Only 1 year and 10 days since my last update (I did say this was on hold though)

And I'm back to end this…

K: I miss ya foo! Where ya at :-P hahahahaha hit me back, Oh I changed my address email me and I'll tell u :-D

Papi-cholito: ur in my heart like a tattoo (even if I'm not in urs).

Gilmoreintraining: ur eyes-pouting combo worked, here's the next one.

Ok so this is not where I was planning on ending this chapter, but I've been getting a few PM's about posting this, something about pouting and stuff P so I figured it was long enough to post.

After this there's only two (probably 3) more chapters left in this baby.

ON WITH IT! (not beta-ed by the way)

Rory was putting on the finishing touches for her dance costume, she was in her room.

"Hey" Luke said shyly while knocking on the side of the door. "You look nice" he noticed the dress.

"Thank you" she did an exaggerated bow before continuing getting ready. "You can come in you know" Rory said looking at him through her mirror; Luke stood leaning against the door frame looking at her get ready while debating something in his head.

"Right" Luke nodded a bit before pushing himself away from the door frame and walking over to her. "Umm… hey, Rory?" he asked shyly.

"Yeah?" she raised her eyebrows still looking at him through the mirror.

"Umm…" he looked down at his shoes; Rory found this odd so she turned to look at his better.

"Luke…?" curiosity started making its way into her. "You ok?" he cleared his throat and pulled his hand out of his pants pocket bringing something out with it, a slim rectangular, black velvet box. "What's that?"

"Uh… here" he moved his hand, and the box, towards her.

"Is it for me?" Rory had a giddy smile while taking the box from him; Luke only nodded while he tried not to blush or run out of the room before she saw what was in it why did I think this was a good idea? Rory gasped when she saw what was inside. "Oh my God, it's beautiful" Rory said in awe. She took the necklace out of its home and dangled it mid air to get a better look. From a simple silver chain hung a golden outline of an angel; the chain went right through the angel and it held it up by one of its wings.

"You like it?" Luke asked shyly, only lifting his gaze to look at Rory, his head was still facing down.

"I love it, it's beautiful" she kept examining it before gently placing back in its box. "Mom will love it I swear" she made a move to give the box back to Luke.

"I-it's not for your Mom" he admitted not taking the box from Rory's extended arm. "It's yours" Rory's face was the definition of shock.

"Mine? But…?" Rory didn't know what to say; Luke just shrugged as if it was nothing.

"I though it might go with what you're wearing" he said nonchalantly. Rory smiled at him and took the necklace back out, she tossed the box to her bed and opened the clasp.

"Here…"Luke took a step towards her and motioned with his hand; Rory handed him the necklace with such delicacy that it seemed the necklace was made of glass. She turned her back to him and gathered her hair to the side, Luke fastened the necklace and Rory turned back around. "Huh, perfect fit" he noticed. Rory turned to look at herself in the mirror fingering the chain before suddenly turning back around and throwing her arms around Luke's neck and hugging him tight.

"Thanks" she whispered not loosening her grip.

"Can't breath" Luke exaggerated, he was never big on showing his affection and the way Rory was hugging him was making him very uncomfortable, especially because it didn't seem like she was going to let go any time soon.

"I'll let go when you pass out, don't worry" she mumbled. "I love it"

"Good, I really hadn't noticed"

"You bought me an angel" she cooed happily; whenever Luke was being extra mushy, or she had just called him 'Dad', he would call her his angel, something that made Rory extremely happy whenever it happened and now the necklace was a constant reminder of that happiness.

"Yeah, umm…" he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Come on guys!" Lorelai yelled impatiently from the couch. "We need the check up and the sign up, and to find a good spot, and…"

"Shut up!" Jess voice was heard.

"You better go out there before Mom kills Jess" Rory finally pulled back from Luke. "Thanks, Dad" Rory said quietly when Luke was almost out her door, he stopped momentarily before continuing.

"Luke Jess told me to shut up" Lorelai had tear streaks running down her cheeks and Jess was squatting in front of her trying to calm her down.

"Jess!" Luke barked with a scowling look.

"I didn't think she'd cry" Jess stood up quickly and back stepped away form Lorelai as Luke stepped forwards.

"Go hurry Rory up" Luke told him, pissed off face still on until he turned to look at Lorelai. "Hey…" his voice softened and he took a seat next to her. "It's ok"

"He told me to shut up" she said hiccupping with a pout.

"I heard; I'll pound on him later" he promised.

"Later?" she was about to start crying again.

"Well yeah, if I pound on him right now, how will he win the dance marathon?" Lorelai stopped crying to think about it a little.

.o0 Rory's Room 0o.

"What did you do?" Rory asked sighing when Jess hurried into her room.

"Lorelai kinda started crying when I told her to shut up" he admitted shyly.

"Jess"

"What? It's not like I did it on purpose"

"You know she's oversensitive"

"Sorry. Chances are she's already over it"

"Well… yeah, she's been kinda flaky lately" Rory nodded.

"Hey…" Jess' tone of voice dropped a little. "You look pretty" he said uncharacteristically and Rory laughed blushing.

"Dork" she shoved him playfully. "Let's go before my Mom's mood swings to pissed off" she went over to her door but just stopped her by grabbing at her hand. "Yeah?" she turned to look at him; Jess smiled before kissing her softly.

"Morning" he whispered softly.

"We've been up for a while now" she reminded him.

"So? I still have about six more hours of morning left"

"So your plan is to say 'morning' to me until its morning no more?"

"Exactly" he smirked and kissed her again. "It'll be entertaining"

"No, it'll be annoying"

"Maybe for you" he leaned down to capture her lips again but Rory pulled back a little before he did.

"Hey! Are you just getting back at me for roping you into the dance marathon?"

"She is smart" he teased and Rory playfully smacked his chest but he only chuckled. "Come on, let's go" he grabbed the hand she had left on his chest after smacking him, and pulled her towards the living room.

.o0 Living Room 0o.

Luke's hand was cradling her head while his thumb gently stroke Lorelai's check, it had been whipping away her tears but now they were all gone. He was leaning closer to the ear on the opposite side from where he had his hand, and was whispering silly stuff in between kisses. Lorelai giggled once in a while blushing a little. Rory held Jess back and told him to stay quiet so they wouldn't interrupt the happy/mushy couple. After a little while Luke moved to cradle her face with both his hands, gave her a small peck, told her something while staring intently into her eyes, and waited until Lorelai nodded biting her lip before he leaned down to kiss her again.

"Aw come on, you're gonna make me puke" Jess said after a couple seconds; Luke and Lorelai pulled back, Luke's face turned to the back of the couch to hid his embarrassment while Lorelai narrowed her eyes at Jess. "First we have to see you be all mushy and now we have to witness a make out session?" he groaned.

"Do you want me to cry again?" Lorelai challenged and Jess' amused face quickly changed to a panicked one.

"We should get going, huh?" Jess quickly said and made a dash for the door not waiting for anyone else.

"I love it when he squirms" Lorelai said giggling making her way to the door. "Cute necklace" she added walking by Rory who shared a small smile with Luke, he shot her a wink as he followed Lorelai.

.o0 Center of Town 0o.

"You think I don't know I'm pregnant?!" Lorelai said in outrage, they were getting their check ups.

"It… it… I… I never…. It's not that you don't…" Taylor stuttered.

"You think I just normally balloon up like this in a regular basis?!" Lorelai ignored him and kept going.

"Now, now, you're over six months…"

"You don't say!" Lorelai told his sarcastically, Luke was standing next to her arms crossed over his chest and with an amused grin; no one else was there because everybody had left right after Taylor had told her she couldn't participate, but they were just standing outside the door. "I know how far along I am, Taylor!"

"You know the rules, Lorelai" he told her sternly. "Pregnant women can't participate, especially after their sixth month…"

"That's discrimination" Lorelai interrupted.

"No, it's for yours, the baby's and everybody else's safety. What if your water breaks and somebody steps on it and they trip and die?" Taylor exaggerated a bit.

"Nobody will die just because I want to dance"

"How do you know that?" he challenged.

"Give her the damn number, Taylor" Luke growled, he was getting annoyed and knew that Lorelai was a little away from breaking down, and not breaking down as getting mad but as in crying.

"My hands are tied here, Luke"

"I don't plan on dancing the whole marathon, just two or three songs" Lorelai said, her voice sounded weird because she was starting to believe she wouldn't break Taylor down and she'd be by the bleachers all day.

"Dance three, thirteen, or three hundred, I don't care! You're still over six months pregnant!" Taylor huffed annoyed.

"Alright, that's it!" Luke resolved; he straightened up and reached forwards.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Taylor pushed himself back on the chair. Luke glared at him, took two numbers from the little pile and a few pins.

"Don't you dare say a word" he threatened Taylor before turning over to Lorelai. "Let's get this secured in place" he told her with a calm voice and steered her out of Miss Patty's. Lorelai turned back and poked her tongue at Taylor.

"Thanks" Lorelai said shyly once they had left Taylor behind; Luke just smiled giving her a quick wink.

"There they go" Jess said motioning with his head; they had left the check up area to avoid the Taylor-Lorelai fight.

"Let's go then, I don't wanna be late because if we are we can't participate, and if we can't participate then my Mom will kill us"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Jess mumbled while leading her to get their check ups. While they were nearing the door they hear Lorelai's voice yell again 'I know I'm pregnant!'

.o0 Inside the Gym 0o.

"How bout this?" Luke asked exasperated, they had been looking for the 'perfect' spot for the dance.

"Hmm… it's too flat" Lorelai said after mussing over the spot for a few seconds.

"It's a basket ball gym" Jess stated annoyed.

"Didn't I request silence from you?" she asked Jess. "Do you want me to cry here, in the middle of a town event?" she challenged.

"Fine, I won't talk… just make up your mind already" he mumbled the last part.

"Jess" Luke gave him a look and Jess rolled his eyes.

"Do you want me to go get you some coffee?" he asked Rory just to see if he could distract himself from Lorelai's craziness.

"I... umm, no"

"Honey, you can have coffee, I'm ok" Lorelai assured here. "You'll need it if you're gonna stay up for 24 hours"

"Ok then, yeah I want a cup" Rory told Jess with a happy smile.

"I'll be back" and with that he left so Lorelai could pick the perfect 'non-flat' surface for the best dancing.

"Jess, wait up!" Rory went with him; she too thought the 'non-flat' thing was pointless.

"Are you ok?" Luke asked once he noticed Lorelai was wiggling funnily.

"Yeah, the baby is just not letting me breathe… I'm trying to change the position"

"We don't have to stay"

"I want to; we're ok, I promise… as long as there's no more stretching" Lorelai said the last part to her stomach.

.o0 Non-Luke's-coffee coffee stand 0o.

"Is that a new necklace?" Jess asked when they were waiting for their coffee.

"Umm… sort of" she said with a smile while fingering her new neckwear.

"Was it a gift from your other boyfriend?" he teased.

"Oh yeah" she teased.

"Here you go" the guy at the booth handed them their coffees.

"Aw great" Jess grumbled.

"Wha…?" Rory looked around to see what had set Jess off, and then he saw it… him. "Be nice"

"You're kidding right?"

"Hey, I didn't know you dance" Dean said walking up to them, Lindsey by his side, she had a small apologetic smile.

"Didn't know you dance either" Jess said in an even voice.

"Hey Jess, it looks like Mom found a spot" Rory tried to pull him away from the inevitable 'argument'.

"Whooksh" Dean made a whipped sound.

"Dean…" Lindsey warned.

"Jess" Rory said and he noticed something weird in her voice, she was looking to the distance too. Jess followed her eyes and saw how Luke helped Lorelai off the dance floor and towards the bleachers. He didn't say anything just grabbed Rory's hand and they were on their way.

"Feeling better?" Luke asked rubbing her back; Lorelai was sitting straight, shoulders back, trying to catch her breath. She lifted a hand up telling him to give her a minute.

"Mom?"

"Damn… the baby… won't… move" Lorelai said breathing fast trying to catch her breath.

"What?" Rory frowned looking at Luke for a translation.

"Baby pressing up against her diaphragm" Luke told her.

"Attention all dancers, you have five minutes" Taylor's' voice sounded all throughout the gym.

"Do you want to go back home?" Luke asked her, again, and Lorelai shook her head, again.

"Give me… a minute"

"Hey, come on" Jess placed his arm around Rory's shoulder and led her away while she struggled; he figured Lorelai didn't need everybody around her waiting for her to breathe normally again, and Rory didn't need to be worrying.

"Jess"

"We need to go find our spot"

"Are you crazy?!"

"You're Mom's ok. Us, however, are dead if we don't win that thing for her"

"But…"

"She's fine" he assured and dragged her further away from where Lorelai and Luke were.

Lorelai's breaths started to even and deepen, a smile started to appear on her lips.

"Better?" Luke asked quietly.

"MmmHmm" she nodded.

"I didn't like that, Lorelai. That wasn't just shortness of breath"

"Luke, relax. It was like an elephant sitting on my chest, it was the baby" Lorelai assured.

"But…"

"It was shortness of breath; it's all your fault by the way"

"What?"

"The baby… remember the doctor told us how big the baby…"

"Long" Luke corrected, that's what the doctor had told them.

"Fine, how long the baby was. It's not like there's unlimited room there"

"Two minutes everybody! You have two minutes" Taylor's voice rang again.

"Let's go" Lorelai stood up.

"But…"

"I'm good, the baby's good, we're all good, you're not getting out of dancing mister so don't even try" she smiled at him before grabbing his hand.

Those two minutes flew by, especially since Lorelai and Rory kept arguing about the flatness of the gym's floor. Before they knew it, the music started and everybody danced like there was no tomorrow; except Luke and Lorelai who gently swayed to the beat.

"See, it's not so bad" Lorelai cooed and Luke only grunted in acknowledgement but tightened his hold on her. "Umm, Luke…?"

"Taylor, what are you doing?" Luke barked when he noticed Taylor hovering near them with a couple of big fluffy towels.

"If her water breaks and she goes into labor, I want to make sure it's quickly cleaned up so there will be no accidents" he defended.

"Taylor!" Lorelai shrieked appalled.

"Leave" Luke took a threatening step towards him, Taylor shudder a little before scurrying off but staying close to them with the towels by his side. "That man drives me crazy, he's ridiculous and annoying"

"He just wants to avoid a lawsuit" Lorelai reasoned.

"No, he wants to bug me any free moment he gets"

A couple minutes later, they had changed positions and locations; Luke was currently hugging Lorelai from behind, carrying part of her baby-bump weight on his forearms, and they had moved to the back of the gym where they could look at everybody else dance.

"This is nice" Lorelai said after a little silence.

"I wouldn't go so far… it's not that horrible, there that's better" Luke corrected and Lorelai snorted because she knew he was enjoying himself.

"Uh-oh" Lorelai whispered.

"What?"

"Over there…" Lorelai motioned with her head.

"Oh" Luke saw Jess and Rory dancing around and actually enjoying themselves but a couple of people away were Dean and Lindsay; Dean couldn't take his eyes off of Rory and Jess.

"That can't end good" Luke sighed knowing he'd have to play referee in a not so distant future.

.o0 The Middle of the Third Song 0o.

"Ok, I'm tired now and the music woke the baby up"

"So marathon over?"

"Yep…?" Lorelai nodded. "Marathon over" Luke 'un-hugged' her, took her hand, and led her to the bleachers to keep watching for a little while longer before going back home to sleep some more.

.o0 First Break 0o.

Luke had gone to get Lorelai something to eat and Jess had gone to get some coffee for him and Rory.

"How long do you think Dean will ogle Jess?" Lorelai wondered out loud when she noticed Dean's eyes had followed Jess as he went for coffee.

"I don't know, but I hope he stops soon because it's annoying"

"And kinda twilight zone-y"

"What, how?"

"The last time it was you and Dean with Jess ogling you and neglecting his girlfriend, now its you and Jess with Dean ogling you neglecting his girlfriend. Same people, different arrangement"

"That's just too weird to think about"

"Yeah, I know… oh no" Lorelai noticed Dean making a move.

"Uh-oh, I'll be right back" Rory sprang from her seat and over to where Jess was, and where Dean was heading.

"Hey, Diner-boy, get me some coffee too" Dean said walking up to Jess.

"Get it yourself" other than that Jess ignored Dean.

"Rory's got you on a short leash" Jess said nothing, he was just waiting for the coffee's. "You're dancing for her, fetching her coffees, getting dressed in costumes…"

"Jess!"" Rory called jogging up to them.

"Aw, Jess, someone is pulling at your leash. Come on boy, fetch"

"Listen…!" Jess snapped and turned around.

"Come on, Jess, let's go sit for a little while because the break is almost over" Rory pulled at his arm, Jess' eyes were on Dean for a few seconds before he started walking away without saying anything. "Stop it" Rory told Dean before she followed Jess.

During the noon-break, Luke and Lorelai brought Rory and Jess some edible food they could eat fast and not throw up later. All four of them ate together, Rory and Jess faster than Luke and Lorelai since they had to get back to dancing in a few minutes.

A couple of songs after the noon-break was over, Lindsay pulled an Andrew and snapped at Dean, she was tired of being ignored and cranky for having to get up so early just to dance around and watch Dean keep an intense eye on Rory. Jess looked away from the blowout, but only because Rory had made him.

"I'm halfway there" Dean called in the direction of Rory and Jess. "Now all I have to do is sit here and wait for the two of you to fight… just like last time" and he took a seat on the first bleacher; the closest to the couple being watched.

"Is he serious?" Jess said through gritted teeth.

"Just ignore him… please?"

"But…"

"Please" she pouted a little and Jess just exhaled in surrender. "Thank you" she gave him a kiss. "Oh, and by the way, this is your fault"

"What?"

"He's only doing what you did"

"Are you defending him?" Jess asked appalled and annoyed.

"I'm not defending him, I just see where he's coming from; he's getting even at you because he thinks you're the reason we broke up… which is kinda true" Jess only smirked.

"I just want him to stop"

"He'll get bored… eventually" Jess just grumbled.

.o0 The Crap Shack 0o.

"Hey, I thought you were sleeping" Luke said walking into the living room and seeing Lorelai surrounded by a bunch of clothes.

"Couldn't get comfortable so I decided to do some laundry"

"How proactive of you" he pushed the clothes to the side and took a seat on the couch. "Umm, Lorelai…?"

"Just because they're new doesn't mean we don't have to wash them"

"I know we have to wash them…" Luke started folding little shirts and onesies. "…I just didn't know we had to wash them now"

"Might as well" Lorelai shrugged.

"When are you gonna stop cleaning?"

"I'm nesting, Luke. I'm making this house baby-friendly"

"This house's already baby-friendly"

"I can't help it" she sounded annoyed.

"Fine, just… take it easy"

"I'm just folding onesies" she defended.

"Right now, yeah; but don't think I don't know about the light bulbs"

"Light bulbs?" Lorelai feigned ignorance.

"Yes, you changed all the light bulbs in the house"

"You knew about that?!"

"Of course I did!"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I was pissed and if I had said something I would've just ended up yelling at you"

"Why were you pissed?"

"You were on a ladder, on several ladders actually"

"Oh, that" she looked down to her lap.

"Don't be sad" Luke said worried that her hormones would take over and she'd start crying. "I already hid all the ladders, and stepping-stools, and the chemicals" right then the timer went off. "Time to go feed our dancers"

.o0 School Gym 0o.

Lorelai was smart enough to leave before the run around started, and to come back way after it had ended; that way Rory would not have a complete break down with her.

"I'm so tired, coffee is not doing it anymore" Rory whined, she was sitting next to Lorelai on the bleachers, and was leaning against her.

"Come on, honey, only three more hours until this thing is over and I bet people wont last more than one more hour"

"I bet I won't last more than an hour"

"Sure you will, just lean on Jess"

"Doubt that'll help, he's leaning on me now"

"That little booger" Lorelai grumbled. "Oh, I brought you guys something" she reached over to a plastic bag beside her.

"Ooh, what? What?" Rory sat up eagerly.

"Two monsters" Lorelai presented proudly.

"Mom!"

"These should keep you guys awake"

"Monster's are not the solution, being nice and letting us go sleep for the next fourteen hours, is the solution"

"Sorry kid, no sleep till I have that trophy in my hands"

"Hey, I'm back" Jess said sitting down next to Rory; he had been in the bathroom.

"Here, Mom brought us monsters to keep us awake"

"Thoughtful" Jess said sarcastically.

.o0 Crap Shack 0o.

"Lorelai…"

"Just a couple more minutes, Luke, please"

"I'm tired"

"One minute"

"I've been up since forever"

"Thirty seconds"

"I'm exhausted"

"Fine!" she sighed overdramatically. "Bye-bye Tommy, goodnight" Lorelai whispered and kissed the trophy.

"Yeah, Tommy, get out of my bed" Luke grumbled harshly picking up the trophy.

"Luke! Careful, don't hurt Tommy"

"Tommy's fine" Luke was walking back to bed.

"You need to lay him down, he needs to sleep after all" Lorelai said in a 'duh' tone of voice, Luke sighed and walked back to the trophy; he laid it down and walked back to the bed. "He needs a blanket; I don't want him getting sick"

"Lorelai, stop calling it 'he' it's weird" Luke finally snapped.

"Keep it up and he'll sleep with me while you're down on the couch" Lorelai threatened and Luke only rolled his eyes before tossing a blanket over the trophy.

.o0 Days Later 0o.

"Are you sure you want me there?" Lorelai asked skeptically, they were getting into her new car; Luke driving.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to" it was well past noon and it was the first time either of them was leaving the house that day.

"I didn't say that, I was just making sure you wanted me there" they were on their way to the cemetery to pay their respect to William Danes; Lorelai had finally convinced Luke that disappearing for a day was not good.

"I want you there" Luke told her solemnly, after that, silence ruled the car.

Lorelai made Luke stop at a flower shop so she could buy something, after all, 'it was the first time she was meeting his dad' or at least that's what she had told Luke when she was trying to convince him to stop at the shop.

"Hon, are you ok?" Lorelai asked breaking the silence just minutes before they got to the cemetery.

"Uh, yeah, yeah" Luke nodded enthusiastically. "It just feels weird"

"What does?" she panicked a bit.

"Going this early, bringing flowers, bringing someone else, not staying in the diner"

"We can go back, you know. I don't have to go with you, you don't have to stay at the house; go back to your routine"

"But I don't want to, I want this; I want to move on with my life and I want you right next to me while I do so"

"You're being sappy" she teased knowing Luke hated expressing his feelings so she always gave him an out.

.o0 Minutes Later 0o.

"… so you're going to be a grandpa… again. Jess is dating my daughter, talk about a small world huh? And in case you were wondering, Luke did the right thing and proposed, and I said yes…" Lorelai had started talking a little after they got there when she had noticed Luke's face; he just stood there frozen and Lorelai couldn't take it anymore. "What…?" she leaned closer to the headstone. "You want to know the sex of the baby? Sorry, but we're not telling anyone yet" she jumped a bit when she felt two arms snake around her and come to rest under her stomach.

"Thank you" Luke whispered near her ear.

"And your boy here…" she patted his forearm. "… he is such a peep; a peep that's been left out all night. You know… hard on the outside but all marshmallow-y on the inside; yep, that's your boy here"

"Did you just tell my Dad I was a marshmallow?"

"Nope, I told him you were a peep; there's a difference" she corrected giggling.

"See what I have to deal with" Luke spoke looking at the headstone.

"Suck it up babe. You did this and now you're stuck with us" she gently placed her hand on her stomach.

"Happy to" he mumbled.

"Peep" she teased.

After spending a few more minutes at the cemetery they drove back home and went up to their room to lounge the day away. Usually Lorelai would lie cuddle against Luke with him giving her sweet, gentle, reassuring touches; this time, Luke was cuddled against her and she was the one being reassuring. It was just a quiet day; they wouldn't be having many more of those soon. She loved being able to comfort him for a change; her and their baby was what made Luke get through his dark day this year.

"Hey kid, what are you doing?" Lorelai was half sitting half lying on the bed; Luke had his head pillowed on her lap, his face slightly turned towards her stomach. Peep Lorelai thought.

"Not much kicking today" Lorelai answered gently running her fingers through his hair.

"What, why?" Luke frowned getting nervous; usually he was jumpy and nervous when it came to the baby, but today, on his father's anniversary, he was very aware of how fragile life was.

"Babies sense our moods, we've been in a funky one all day so…"

"Sorry" Luke mumbled before an evil glint took residency in his eyes and a smirk took over his features.

"Luke?" Lorelai frowned. Luke sat up and turned to face Lorelai, he considered it a few seconds more before reaching over to tickle her. "Luke!" Lorelai wiggled to try and get away from his hands.

"Still funky?" Luke asked a few seconds later when he pulled back to let her catch her breath.

"Not funky" Lorelai said while gasping for air, Luke narrowed his eyes before tickling her again. On the second time he let her catch her breath Lorelai groaned and pouted.

"Now I won't be able to sleep" her hand was on the side of her belly.

"Good, that means the baby is not in a funky mood anymore" Luke smirked before lying next to Lorelai and placing a hand next to where hers was. She had to smile because Luke had been silly and playful just to make her, and their baby, smile; and on his dark day peep.

.o0 Days Later, Living room 0o.

"Well… you know how on TV they always show pregnant women walking around with bowls on their belly's?"

"You're doing that right now?" Rory asked a little surprised.

"No, but I did try it earlier"

"So, right now…?"

"I am looking at Luke while he cleans up some popcorn that fell on the floor"

"So you couldn't balance the bowl?"

"Nope, it's very hard"

"I told you it would be" Rory heard Luke call from a distance. "They probably just tape the stupid thing to their stomachs"

"I thought I said I didn't want your input" Lorelai reminded him.

"I thought I said I didn't want you balancing that bowl" he shot back.

"Could you guys not fight when I'm on the phone?" Rory piped in.

"We're not fighting Hon, we're just discussing if Luke should sleep on the couch tonight or if he'll suck it up and clean the popcorn in silence"

"Do you always have to threaten me with the couch thing?"

"Yes, and as long as it keeps working I'll keep using it"

"Guys…?" Rory tried again, sensing that this was taking an ugly turn; their tone of voice was not playful anymore.

"You do realize that I can just go to the apartment, right?"

"You wouldn't"

"Try me"

"Ok then, go sleep over there…!"

"Mom…?"

"Fine!" Luke said getting up, leaving all the popcorn lying on the floor.

"And stay over there!" Lorelai added after the door slammed.

"Mom?" silence this can't be good. "Mom? Are you still there?"

"Rory?"

"Hey, are you ok?" she heard Lorelai sniffle a bit.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Sorry you had to hear that"

"It's no problem" Rory dismissed it and silence followed, she could hear Lorelai's ragged breaths; she was obviously crying. "Mom, what happened?"

"Nothing, babe, everything's fine"

"Mom…"

"Look, I-I have to go, I'll talk to you later"

"Mom…"

"Bye sweetie, I'll see you soon" and with that Lorelai hung up not giving Rory any chance to say anything.

Lorelai sat there a little longer, waiting until the tears stopped rolling down her cheeks. She didn't know why they had been on each others throats lately. Everything had been fine after Luke's dark day, great even; they had been closer than ever and Luke had been so sweet but about a week ago they had started snapping at each other, over the silliest things.

"Stupid Luke, with his stupid I told you so look, and his I told you so tone of voice…" Lorelai started rambling while picking up everything Luke had left on the floor.

Over at the diner, Luke had burst inside and stumped upstairs; good thing the dinner rush had died down and Caesar was about to close other wise the rumors would have started already. The apartment looked different; he hadn't spent the night there alone for a long, long time; ever since the Christopher incident.

"Great" he grumbled.

.o0 Later that Night 0o.

Lorelai groaned up at the ceiling, she turned over to look at the time and 2:46 flashed back at her, mockingly. Again she groaned, she was tired, hurting, and the fight earlier had gotten the baby all riled up.

"Damn" she whispered and struggled to get up. "Now he listens to me" Luke never stayed away when she asked him too, so Lorelai wasn't expecting him to listen this time but apparently he really was mad at her for some reason; so now there was only one thing left to do, go to the diner.

Figuring a late, late, night walk might calm the baby down, and not being in the mood to drive, not that she could anyhow; Lorelai walked over to the diner.

"Luke?" she asked tentatively once she entered the dark apartment. "LuUuke" there was light snoring coming from the bed aw, the poor guy only snores when something's on his mind. Lorelai eased closer. "Luke?"

"Mmm?" he stirred a little, his arm tried to come in contact with Lorelai but it just smashed against the bedside table making all the stuff on it fall to the floor. "Crap"

"Are you ok?" Lorelai asked wincing.

"Wha…? Oh, yeah" he sat up a little on the bed and inspected his hand, Lorelai turned on the light to also check his hand out; the bright light making him wince and groaned so she just turned it back off.

"I'm sorry, I'll clean this up" she said quickly, after making sure his hand was ok.

"Leave it" Luke told her once he saw her trying to bend over and pick everything up. "I'll get it later"

"But" she pointed to all the different items scattered around on the floor.

"Come to back to bed" his voice thick with sleep.

"Luke…?"

"Mm?"

"I don't fit" she pouted.

"Wha…?"

"We're at the diner, your beds a twin"

"Aha"

"I'm pregnant"

"MmHmm"

"Luke!"

"What?" he woke up again.

"Let's go home" again she pouted.

"The whole pouting thing only works if I can see it"

"Luke" she whined.

"Tell you what…" he got up. "You sleep on the bed, and I'll go to the couch"

"But I thought you said…"

"I'm too tired to argue, or to walk back home"

"Thanks" she smiled and kissed his cheek when he walked past her on his way to the couch.

"We'll talk tomorrow" he promised as he got comfortable.

"Luke…?" he only grunted back. "I love you"

"Love you too" he mumbled back and Lorelai couldn't help but smile. Yeah they were still, technically, fighting and they hadn't resolved anything, and the baby was still kicking like crazy, and they weren't sharing a bed at the moment, but things were looking better; and tomorrow they'd get to the bottom of their recent problems.

.o0 Around 4:30 A.M. 0o.

Lorelai woke up with a start, first she noticed she was not at the house, secondly she noticed Luke was no longer snoring like he had earlier, and thirdly she noticed… pain.

"Luke! Luke, help!" she groaned and before she knew it Luke was by her side.

"What's wrong?" panic was evident in his voice. "Lorelai, talk to me" all she did was grab his thigh and squeeze.

"It hurts" she said through gritted teeth.

"Damn it, the cars not here" Luke was in panic mode for a few moments before he snapped back to fix-it mode. "Ok…ok, Lorelai, honey, I'm gonna call 911 ok, they'll be here soon and everything will be ok"

"No, not 911, I don't like ambulances" Lorelai said near tears.

"I know, but we don't have the car here"

"Sookie! She has a car, and she lives practically across the street"

"Sookie's sleeping, and we need to go now"

"Luke, please, no ambulance's" he debated it a second longer before picking up the phone.

"Is Sookie deaf in one ear?" Luke wondered out loud when no one was answering the phone and Lorelai couldn't help but smile a little at that, since she had said the exact same thing a few years back. "You stopped squeezing my leg" Luke noted.

"It doesn't hurt anymore"

"Sookie…? Jackson, sorry… yes I know… yes… ok… hey! There's a reason I called so stop with the sermon… sorry… it's Lorelai… we're at the diner and we need a car… they're at the house… she's in pain… we don't know… thank you" and with that Luke hung up. "He's on his way here"

"I think we're ok now, he doesn't have to…"

"We're going to the hospital, and you won't convince me otherwise"

"Ok" she noticed the tone on his voice: it was firm but scared.

"Ok then" he nodded. "Let's get downstairs; Sookie doesn't live that far away"

"Alright" they got up and made their way downstairs.

.o0 Hospital Room 0o.

"Take your hands off me! This is your fault! Consider yourself celibate from now on!"

"Ma'am, just focus on pushing, please" the doctor said.

"I will focus on whatever the hell I want!"

"Not the best time to mess with her"

"You shut up and coach me, celibate man"

.o0 Hallway 0o.

"Wow, you won't be like that, will you?" Luke asked Lorelai, they were being wheeled to a room.

"God I hope not. It sounds like she's giving birth to a three year old" Lorelai said wincing; the nurse that was wheeling her couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Alright, here you are, the doctor will be here shortly" the nurse said while hooking Lorelai up to several machines.

"OK, thank you" Lorelai said while getting comfortable, the nurse left them alone

"How are you feeling?" Luke asked.

"I'm good, no pain or anything" she smiled smoothing out the sheets.

"Are you lying?"

"Fibbing" she corrected after a little silence.

"Lorelai…"

"It hurts a little… but only a little" she added quickly.

"But it still hurts"

"Only a little" before Luke could add another 'but it still hurts' the doctor came in.

"So… you were in pain?" he asked focusing on her chart and not on them; which was good because Lorelai did a 'duh' face before agreeing with him.

.o0 A Couple Minutes Later 0o.

"See, you were just startled" Luke said after they had bugged the doctor into doing a bunch of tests, twice.

"You didn't feel it, you have no opinion on it" Lorelai snapped back.

"It was just Braxton Hicks, those things aren't even painful"

"Luke, shut up" truth was, he was still scared, the moment he heard Lorelai say she was in pain his heart nearly stopped, but now, they knew it was only Braxton Hicks so he was trying to calm himself down. "Stop laughing"

"I'm not laughing; I was… ah… yawning"

"Right" she crossed her arms and turned to look away from him. "Remember the lady from earlier?"

"The one giving birth to the three year old?"

"Yes, remember how she was calling the guy 'celibate man'?"

"Uh yeah" Luke didn't know where she was going with this.

"That's you now, buddy, for making fun of me"

"You know, I'd rather you send me to the couch than make me that man"

"Too bad" was all Lorelai said.

.o0 A couple days later, before Christmas 0o.

Sookie and Lorelai went to the Mall; well Lorelai bugged Sookie until she'd agree on going. It had taken longer to convince Luke. But now there they were, at the Mall just days before Christmas and within weeks of delivery.

"What did you get Luke?" Sookie asked happily. And Lorelai just pointed to her stomach. "Are you serious?"

"Of course not, but that's what he thinks. He keeps saying not to get him anything but I can't just not get him anything for Christmas. I mean we gave him something every year before we got pregnant…."

"Together" Sookie corrected and Lorelai made a weird face. "Don't say 'before we got pregnant' say 'before we got together' its better"

"It's the same thing"

"No, one says you got together, and the other one says you guys are only together because you got drunk and pregnant"

"Anyways… we always got him something and I'm not about to stop now especially since…" she stopped talking.

"Especially since?" Sookie pried.

"Sorry, ignore that" Lorelai smiled.

"What? Why?" now Sookie really want to know.

"Luke told me something, something I promised I wouldn't tell anyone because it's very deep and sad, and is his business"

"I promise I won't tell anyone" Sookie lifted her right hand.

"I don't know, not even Rory knows"

"I swear"

"I don't know why you're so eager, it's not happy" Sookie shrugged. "Ok, but you swore; not even Jackson" Lorelai warned and Sookie nodded. "Before Rory and I started giving him presents on Christmas and his birthday he didn't get anything"

"Well that makes sense" Sookie thought out loud.

"No, he didn't get a Christmas present after his Mom died"

"What? But that was ages ago"

"He helped his Dad keep up pretenses for Liz, but he got put in the back burner. He got stuff for his birthday from his Dad, but not the same as when his Mom was alive"

"Aw Luke" Sookie said sadly. "That man has suffered so much"

"Remember your promise" Lorelai warned and Sookie nodded. "Don't start giving him stuff either, or he'll know"

"But…"

"Sookie"

"Fine, everything will be as before" she promised. "Didn't his Mom die when he was like eleven?"

"Something like that" Lorelai nodded.

"Aw"

"Sookie"

"I swear, I promise!" Lorelai's phone started to ring.

"I'm ok, stop checking up on me" Lorelai answered without looking at the id.

"I am not checking up on you"

"Sorry Mom, I thought it was Luke" Lorelai made a face to Sookie and began wandering of so Sookie wouldn't hear them.

"Why would he be checking up on you?"

"It's silly, Sookie and I went to the Mall and he keeps calling making sure I haven't gone into labor or something"

"You're at the Mall! Lorelai Gilmore, it's crazy with holiday shoppers and you're almost in your ninth month!"

"Yes"

"This is not a joke, no wonder Luke keeps calling"

"Mom, is there a reason you called?"

"Yes, destiny, go back home and relax"

"What" she couldn't help but giggle. "You believe in destiny?"

"Lorelai, you were in the hospital just a few days back"

"Yes, for Braxton Hicks, nothing serious"

"Still, you should be home relaxing, not out shopping; I can't believe Luke let…"

"Hey! He didn't 'let' me" Lorelai sounded appalled, she's not his property and she couldn't believe her mom had said that. "Again, is there a reason you called?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing" Emily said plainly.

"I'm doing good" Lorelai answered confused, this didn't sound like her Mom at all.

"Good"

"Oh my God" Lorelai groaned.

"What?!" Emily sounded a little panicked.

"That smells so good" Lorelai had walked over to the food court and there was a donut stand with freshly baked ones.

"Lorelai Gilmore! That was not funny!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean it as a joke" she said it giggling.

"Like I believe that" Emily muttered.

"Mom, it was nice that you called to check in but I'm starving right now and the baby really wants a donut so…"

"Alright I'll leave"

"Thanks" Lorelai said amazed that her Mom had taken the hint.

"Call me when you go to the hospital" Emily said and there it is Lorelai thought.

"Mom, I'm not going to have this baby and not tell you, you don't have to call in and check if I've popped every other day"

"Very graphic"

"I'll let you know, well I won't but Luke will, if not Rory will because I doubt she'll want to be in the delivery room"

"I thought you wanted a donut?" Emily asked amused because of Lorelai's ramble.

"Oh yeah…" she snapped back. "Ok, I'm leaving now, I'll let you know when the baby starts kindergarten"

"Lorelai!"

"Bye Mom" and with that she hung up and went to get her donut.

You've been LoVeLuKe-ized

I'll try really really hard to post the next one faster, in my head it's all done and the story is complete but it's hard getting it from there to FF.

Next chapter wont be so long though because it will be setting up for the last (or second to last) one.

Let me know what you thought. This about to get good…