A/N It's been a bit since the last update, for those of you who were wanting more, thank you and I'm sorry it took so long. Reality impedes. Hope you enjoy this one, more to follow soon. Thanks to those who have read and continue to review.

May 2008 be filled with peace, hope and love.

I own nothing.

Ch 12 It's Really Going To Happen

That afternoon Anna brought April to the diner and Luke was visibly surprised. Anna quickly looked around for any townies who would recognize her. Luck was with her in that only tourists were eating this late. April was wide-eyed with awe at the diner, she looked at Luke and smiled.

"Hi." April still was not calling him anything, not dad, not Luke, she seemed to be unsure as to what to call him so she steered clear of any noun.

Luke smiled gently at April and was amazed at how his affection for this little girl had grown in such a short amount of time. "Hey April, I'm glad you're able to be here. Are you ready to see where I work?"

April nodded vigorously. Luke's gaze shifted to look questionably at Anna. She had the good grace to look as uncomfortable as he did. She cleared her throat and motioned to a table by the window.

"April, why don't you sit at that table over there while I talk to Luke?" April glanced at both her parents and slowly nodded. She sat quietly at the table and watched the people in the square preparing for the Cider Mill festival.

Anna sat at the counter and lowered her voice while she talked to Luke. "April told me she was getting a new baby sister Luke."

Luke smiled at April and turned to answer Anna. "Actually we don't know if it's going to be a girl or boy yet. Lorelai's just coming out of her first trimester and it wouldn't show up on the ultrasound. So she could be getting a baby brother."

Anna's eyes narrowed. "Don't you think this is just a bit of bad timing? Here you fight to get visitation with my daughter and soon you'll be too busy to give her the attention she needs and deserves. Maybe we should just stop these visits before she gets too attached and you get too busy to see her."

Luke's back went ramrod straight and his temper threatened to erupt all over this she-devil in front of him, but he remembered that April was within earshot so he lowered his voice, his tone sharp enough to slice through chain-link fence like butter.

"In case you forgot your biology Anna, she's my daughter too. And while Lorelai and I will be busy with a new baby it won't be here for at least five months and I'd never ignore April or her needs. She already has a step-sister and Rory loves April as much as Lorelai and I do. I think, no I know that April is excited about being a big sister and having a baby sister or brother. I swear to you that if you try anything that goes against the court order I'll drag your ass back into court so fast you'll have rug burns."

Luke glared at Anna and she cowered on the stool. She stood up and managed to pull together one last bit of control.

"Fine, April looks forward to her Monday and Thursday visits. As long as these continue consistently I won't force the issue. However if you become too busy to see my daughter I will take you back to court. April is too precious to take second place to any child."

Luke continued to glare at her and crossed his arms over his chest. His stance was like one of an immovable force to be reckoned with. He slowly nodded and answered her deliberately.

"Anna, it's by the grace of God that I didn't sue you for full custody after you kept my daughter from me for six years. But because Lorelai knows how important you are in April's life I agreed to seek only joint custody. I will make sure that April knows how important she is in our lives, but don't ever threaten me with that again. Do you understand me?"

Anna licked her lips and averted her eyes. She started to say something but couldn't find her voice at that moment. She cleared her throat and nodded.

"I'll pick April back up in three hours. She starts school next week so from now on I'll drop her off at three and pick her up at six on Mondays and Thursdays."

Luke nodded and softly said, "Starting in October I want her every other weekend for an over night. That will have given her enough time to get used to Lorelai and myself. She's already excited about having her own room in our home so I know she will be able to adjust to sleeping over."

Anna huffed and stuttered. "I'll talk to her about it this week. I think October is too soon for such a shift since she really doesn't know you at all, but if she feels alright about it I'll agree to let her try one."

Luke decided not to hammer it into the ground so he just nodded in agreement. He'd already learned that his daughter had inherited his stubbornness when she wanted something. He had no doubt that that was why Anna was dropping her off and not sticking around.

Tuesday morning Luke and Lorelai were at the doctor's office by ten o'clock. Lorelai had already been weighed and Dr. Hayward's tech was setting up for the ultrasound for the couple. She was the no nonsense nurse who looked too dour to be working in a doctor's office. Luke and Lorelai didn't say a word while she was in the cubicle. As she stepped out Dr. Hayward walked in with a huge smile on her face.

"Well Mr. & Mrs. Danes it looks like you've turned a corner. Lorelai gained three pounds this week."

Luke grinned at Lorelai who squealed.

"Yeah us!" She threw her arms up in the air and did a happy dance on the table. Luke shook his head as Dr. Hayward was looking at her chart.

"Well, according to your hCG levels we must have miscalculated your due date so we can expect baby around the middle of February. That places you at around thirteen weeks. Want to try and get the sex of the baby today?"

Dr. Hayward looked at both of them who were stunned.

"We haven't talked about finding out or waiting, Luke, what do you think?" Lorelai was torn, she wanted to find out but if Luke wanted to go the old fashioned rout of waiting she would agree.

Luke looked at Lorelai and grinned. "If you want to know, how about we find out and then keep it a secret from everyone else including Rory, Jess and your parents?"

Lorelai frowned. She'd never kept a secret from Rory before and she wasn't sure why this bothered her. It wasn't like she was going to keep anything bad from her, but for some reason she was concerned that it would upset Rory.

"Not tell Rory?" Lorelai's brow furrowed as she contemplated this idea. She couldn't help but think that Rory would feel left out.

Luke chuckled. "No Lorelai, I was kidding. If you want to find out I'm fine with it but I know it'd cause too much stress to keep it from anyone especially Rory and we've had way too much stress with this pregnancy already. I'm fine with finding out or waiting, you let me know what you want to do."

Lorelai slapped his arm for teasing her like that.

"You're right about the stress; if we find out we can start narrowing down names for this little bit." Lorelai looked hopefully at Luke who smiled back at her.

"Ok then. If little bit is cooperative we find out if we have a him or her." Luke was thrilled that Lorelai wanted to find out, he knew they were having a baby, but he had struggled with referring to it as him or her and it was making him a bit crazy.

Dr. Hayward was watching this exchange and smiled at their banter. "Ok people, let's do this."

As she set up the ultrasound Lorelai found herself holding her breath. Luke took her hand and rubbed it between his own, he noticed how cold she'd become.

"You ok Lorelai?" he whispered.

Lorelai nodded but her eyes filled with tears and a single one escaped to paint a glistening track down her temple.

"Lorelai, tell me what's going on?" Luke was starting to panic a bit. Just then the screen popped on. Dr. Hayward put the wand against her stomach and Lorelai started to cry harder.

"Lorelai, please tell me what's gong on! I feel out of the loop and I don't know what to say or do!" Luke was almost beside himself with worry when Lorelai turned to him and grabbed his hand.

"We're having a baby!" Lorelai sobbed and Luke was completely lost but Dr. Hayward chuckled.

"I think it finally hit Lorelai that this is going to happen and you're going to have a real baby at the end. Remember when I told you that many times couples who have a difficult pregnancy tend to focus on the symptoms of the pregnancy and not the fact there is going to be a little life in the house at the end of this?"

Luke nodded dumbly as Dr. Hayward continued, "It seems that Lorelai is realizing the emotional impact this child will have on the two of you. You will be joined forever with this little bundle. Sometimes that is not as joyous, but when the parents are in love and committed it can be the most amazing experience. And your daughter has decided to cooperate with us today. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Danes, you're having a girl."

Dr. Hayward smiled at the couple who stared at the screen and Luke suddenly felt lightheaded. Dr. Hayward saw him start to sway and she gently pushed a chair towards him. Luke felt his knees give out as he plopped into the chair. Lorelai looked at Luke and she saw tears form in his eyes. Reaching out a hand she gently stroked his face. She captured the single tear that escaped from his eye and he turned to look at her.

"Wow."

It was the only thought he was capable of actually forming. All the other thoughts were flying inside his head, how he wished his parents were here, what if he dropped his daughter, what if he got sick like his parents. Oh my God! He couldn't bring a child into this world and then have them feel the pain he felt when his parents died. He couldn't deal with the pain his child would have to bear. The skinned knees, the bruises, bumps, broken bones, the illnesses. Oh, God, when Rory had chicken pox he thought he'd die and he didn't see her every day, not like now. And Lorelai was going to go through so much pain as well. What the Hell was he thinking wanting to have children! He couldn't do it, he couldn't do this, he wasn't ready to deal with the pain.

Lorelai watched Luke process everything and it was a bit fascinating, watching him go from wonder and awe to something else, it looked like fear. She cocked her head to one side while he continued to stare at her, but he wasn't seeing her. Suddenly he looked right at her and said one word.

"No."

Lorelai blinked and semi chuckled as she repeated his statement.

"No? No what, no you don't want a daughter, no you don't want a baby, no you don't want me?"

"Pain. Too much." It was all he was able to get out. Lorelai reached for his hand and squeezed to get him to focus. She knew this part of the drill, she'd gone through it with Rory.

"You're worried about our daughter having pain in her life aren't you?"

Luke mutely nodded.

"Yeah, I felt that with Rory, I wanted to protect her from all the people who aren't as nice as she is, who won't love her as much as I love her. Probably the main reason she never played sports in school was the fear I had that she'd get hurt, especially since she inherited my lack of coordination. But she will have so much love too. You and I will love her, her big sisters will love her, my parents will love her, her aunt and cousin will love her and don't forget that wacky place we call home is filled with crazies who will look out for her and also help keep her from being hurt. The rest we'll get through together, it'll be so wonderful to have a partner this time, although you've been there with all the big pains in Rory's life already. When she had chicken pox and when her beloved caterpillar died, you helped her get through it. Plus, this baby will never have a day where she wonders if she's loved by both her mom and dad. That knowledge in itself helps you get through enormous amounts of pain."

Lorelai smiled at Luke who gently kissed the palm of her hand and held it on his cheek. He leaned close to her and whispered in her ear.

"I don't know how I got so lucky to have you in my life but I'm so grateful."

Lorelai stroked his cheek and Dr. Hayward was amazed at the connection these two had, she would never worry about her patient being loved and cared for. She'd felt a bit embarrassed to be witnessing this scene though and so she cleared her throat.

"Well let me get this cleaned up and then we'll finish up here and I'll still want to keep a close watch on you for a few weeks Lorelai. We don't want to lose any ground."

Lorelai looked at Dr. Hayward and remembered that she wanted to find out about how safe it would be to travel to California.

"Dr. Hayward, I need to go to San Francisco on the eleventh of next month and I was wondering if it'd be safe for me to travel."

Lorelai felt Luke's grip tighten as she brought up the subject.

"Well, I normally say that air travel is fine through the seventh month without complications, but it's going to depend on your weight and morning sickness. Have you had any nausea lately?"

"No, I've had three days without any consistent nausea and we've gone about four days without me getting sick. I still blame that one on the guest who had to have bathed in aftershave."

Luke was praying that Dr. Hayward wasn't going to say it was fine for Lorelai to travel. But he knew she'd been feeling better so there wasn't a real reason for her to say no.

"Well Lorelai, I would say that if you don't have any problem with nausea before you leave then it should be fine, but if you experience more than one or one severe bout of morning sickness I'd cancel the trip. Can you get a non-stop to shorten the amount of time you'll spend traveling?"

"I'd think so. I'll try and see what I can do. Luke had talked about going with me so that would help wouldn't it?"

Luke felt his heart sink, he told Lorelai about Anna dropping April off but he hadn't told her about the demand with regards to the time he spends with April.

"Actually Lorelai, I can't go with you. Anna is demanding that I keep a consistent schedule with April and we wouldn't get home in time on Thursday."

Luke dropped his head and Lorelai forced a smile.

"That's ok babe. I'll be fine really. I know Mia would love to see you too, since she didn't make the wedding, but it's ok, really."

Luke looked up at her and smiled.

"It isn't really ok, but it's what we have to deal with."

Lorelai nodded and gently kissed him.

On the way home Lorelai was going through the baby name book concentrating on girl names. Having gotten through the first part of the alphabet Lorelai was finishing up the 'K's and moving into the 'L's.

"Kayla"

"No."

"Keely"

"No."

"Kirby"

"Hell no."

Lorelai chuckled.

"On to the L's. Lacey"

"No."

"Leonora"

"No."

"Leticia"

Luke sighed, "No."

Lorelai squealed and Luke almost drove off the road. He pulled over to the side of the road and glared at Lorelai.

"Damn it Lorelai I told you not to do that! You might've gotten us killed!"

Lorelai giggled at him and whispered, "I've got it."

Luke looked confused, "What?"

"Her name. Little bit's name."

Luke looked at her with narrowed eyes, not sure if she was joking or serious.

"What?"

"Lilibet. It's a combination of Lily which means purity, innocence and beauty and Elizabeth which means God's promise."

Lorelai looked at him hopefully, she felt this was really their baby's name and she hoped Luke felt the same. Slowly he started to nod his head. Then he smiled and looked at her.

"Lilibet. I like it. Of course when Liz finds out she'd going to think we named her after her." Luke chuckled.

"Well, you wanted her to have a connection with her name, so there is that one." Lorelai smiled at him.

Luke suddenly grinned at her. "Ok, you got the first name, now I get the middle. Victoria."

Lorelai gasped. "That's my middle name."

Luke chuckled, "When she gets older and finds out Rory has your first name wouldn't you like to be able to allow her to claim your middle name?"

Lorelai laughed, "Luke you're brilliant. Here she isn't even born and you're already thwarting sibling rivalry. Ok, she now has an official name. You and I, Lucas Buech Danes and Lorelai Victoria Gilmore Danes are proud parents of one Lilibet Victoria Danes. Wow it even sounds so official."

Luke chuckled and drew Lorelai into a passionate kiss. Lorelai felt her hormones kick in and escalated the kiss where Luke found himself moaning at the intensity of her passion. She started to undo the buttons on his shirt and somewhere reality seeped into Luke's brain. They were on the side of the road in the middle of the day with cars whizzing pass them. He broke free of the kiss.

"Lorelai no!"

"Luke yes!"

Lorelai continued to kiss his neck and Luke felt her hand move determinedly southward. Luke tore her hands away from him and put her in her seat. He was panting and trying to think when he looked over to see Lorelai frowning at him her arms folded just under her chest, making her already fuller breasts more prominent. Luke quietly moaned.

"Lorelai, I'm sorry I stopped this, but really, look around. We're in the middle of the day with cars whizzing by, we're not in the middle of deserted woods. Hell even your parents use this road what if they stopped to see if you were alright?" Luke pleaded with her.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes and grinned evilly. "Ok, but you're taking the rest of the day off and we're not leaving our bedroom until I say we're leaving. Got it?"

Luke shook his head. How damn lucky was he that his gorgeous wife thought that making him her sex slave for a day was punishment? Outwardly he sighed deeply.

"As you wish."

Lorelai giggled, "Ok, farm boy, let's get a move on."

They arrived home in record time, Luke was sure it was because of the light traffic and not the promise of spending the day in bed with his luscious wife. Lorelai opened the door as he checked the mail. He was looking at the envelopes as he walked through the door and closed it. Suddenly he felt himself being slammed against the inside wall of the entryway, envelopes scattered on the floor.

Lorelai claimed his mouth and her hands were unbuckling his pants at a startling pace. Luke moaned as his brain scrambled to catch up with his body which had no trouble responding to this attack. He scooped up his bride and climbed the stairs while carrying her. He was so pumped he took the stairs two at a time until they reached the bedroom. He kicked the door close and set Lorelai down on the floor where he claimed her mouth for his own. Reaching behind him he locked the door and turning back to Lorelai he was amused to find half his clothes already making their way to the floor. He removed her top and skirt as well marveling at the small swelling that was showing at her belly.

His eyes filled with tears as he gently stroked over her stomach. "When did this happen?"

Lorelai smiled and looked up at him. "I hadn't noticed. I guess just today or yesterday. Lilibet is starting to grow into a big girl, huh?"

Luke nodded never believing that he could be so filled with happiness. He looked at Lorelai and she gasped at the wanton desire that showed in his eyes. She smiled up at him.

"You're a little turned on that I'm starting to show aren't you?"

Luke shook his head slowly.

"Nope. I'm so turned on that I can't see straight. I'm not sure you're going to be able to go into work for the next few days, I don't know that I can let you get that far away from me and I definitely will have to nix clothes for a while."

Lorelai threw back her head and laughed. "Not too sure how that's going to sit with Rory and Jess babe. But me, I'm cool." She shrugged her shoulders.

Luke chuckled that throaty deep vibration that sent chills down her spine. "Guess that wouldn't be practical while they're here, however they're at work right now and they start school next week. We could work around it."

Luke was backing her up to the bed as he continued to talk, when her knees hit the bed he gently laid her down and hovered over her, trailing his finger across her newly swollen breasts. Lorelai couldn't believe that she was so turned on by such a simple touch.

Luke gently reached behind her and released her bra. The sight of her full breasts and ample hips filled him with such desire for this woman he wasn't sure he'd be able to contain himself. He felt a little like a high school boy who had his fantasy girl come to life from a picture in a magazine. But this was more; he realized that her body was changing because of him. He had done this to her, his baby was growing inside her and creating this softness, this roundedness. Not that Lorelai had ever been angular, not too many muscles under that skin, but she'd never had this many curves and it enhanced the femininity that had attracted him so many years ago.

Lorelai was fascinated watching him look at her and her changing body. She'd never felt so loved, so sexy, so desired. She remembered when Christopher had first seen her changing body and commented on how fat she was getting. He'd never looked at her with the level of want, of need, of love that Luke did. The look Luke gave her today proved to her that she was so smart in allowing herself to open up to him. She couldn't imagine not having him in her life. She needed him like she never needed another person, not even Rory.

"Luke? Now. Please. I need you now." Lorelai's eyes were filled with desire and Luke looked at her quizzically.

"Now? But Lorelai, I haven't even…."

"Now Luke, time for everything else later, I need you now. Please?"

Luke nodded and removed the rest of their clothes amazed that this was exactly where he'd always wanted to be.

He smiled and as he joined them he whispered, "As you wish."