Ah...I love it when the counter agrees with me...lol. Okay here's 14, no Luke yet, but I promise he'll be along shortly...probably in the next chapter. Keep in mind Lorelai is about 3 ½ months pregnant now, and she's been living in New York for 3 months now.
I own no one but Julie, Katy, and Scott...in this chapter anyway...I still don't own Lorelai or Rory...ASP and the WB do.
Because I know no cops, Scott will be loosely based on a combination of Elliott Stabler from Law & Order: SDU, and the character Bobby Halloran, from a book I read called Off Limits.Olivia Hart, will be loosely based off the L&O:SVU character Olivia Benson, and Captain Collins off of Captain Cragen. Therefore, if something about him seems familiar, that's why. Plus I'd rather not get sued, so I supposed technically I only half own Scott, Olivia, and Collins...some of the credit goes to Dick Wolf, and the author of the book whose name I cannot remember at the moment.
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Chapter 14 ------ Scotty and the Care Bears
Two weeks after the shopping trip, Lorelai jerked awake from her reclined position in her desk chair when she heard a knock at her office door.
"Lorelai?" she heard Julie ask, as she slowly began opening the door.
"Yeah," she said, as she cleared her throat, "Come on in." Julie walked in with her bag over one shoulder and a Care Bear backpack over the other. Lorelai laughed, "Going somewhere?"
"Yeah actually, Mike's sending me to Jersey for the weekend."
"And the Care Bears? Are they going with you?"
"Don't mock. I was hoping you could get Katy from school for me. My brother doesn't get off work until six, and she's out by three."
"Sure, I'd be glad to."
"Great, thank you so much. Her car seat is in my office when you're ready to leave. There are clothes and toys in the backpack for Scotts, so make sure he gets it. Her nightlight and blanket are in there too, so if she gets scared-"
"Hey," Lorelai interrupted," She'll be fine."
"I know, its just, I usually have time to prepare her when I have to be gone for a little while, and I didn't get a chance this time. I"m just worried about her I guess."
"And you have every right to be, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Its not your fault you didn't know in time." Lorelai assured her. " I'll make sure she's okay before I let them leave okay?"
"Thanks." Julie sighed. "I better get going if I'm gonna make it to Jersey in time for the meeting Mike so kindly scheduled for me," she laughed wryly. "Bye Lorelai, thanks so much, I owe you one!" She called on her way out the door.
By five, Lorelai had picked Katy up from preschool, much to the little girl's surprise and excitement, and was trying to come up with something to fix her for dinner. After she decided to go with her safest bet, macaroni and cheese, she set Katy up with one of the Care Bear videos Julie had sent, and went and got out of her work clothes. Once she'd gotten comfortable, she curled up on the couch with Katy and let the excited little girl tell her all about the world of the Care Bears.
She'd just gotten Katy started eating when her doorbell rang.
"Okay, I'll get that, you stay here and eat your dinner Katy," she said when the little girl started to jump up, and stood, smoothing her maternity top over her growing tummy.
"Who is it?" she called as she made her way towards the door.
"Scott Montgomery. I'm Julie's brother, I'm here to pick up Katy..."
Lorelai unlatched the door. "Hi Scott, come on in. I'm Lorelai." She smiled and stood aside to allow him in.
"Uncle Scotty!" They heard Katy squeal, as she jumped up from the table and flung herself at his legs.
"Hey there Katy-did!" He laughed as he lifted her easily and tossed her into the air as she giggled.
"Aunty Lori made me macaroni Uncle Scotty!"
"She did, did she?" He laughed and raised his eyebrows in amusement at Lorelai. "How about we go back and eat it then?"
" 'Kay," she said, wiggling out of his grasp and running back to the kitchen table. "We were watching Care Bears Uncle Scotty," the three year old said, mouth full of macaroni.
Scott laughed, "Finish chewing and you can tell me all about it," he said, following her into the kitchen.
Lorelai followed as well, smiling at Katy's excitement to see her uncle. "Can I get you anything? Water? Tea? Macaroni?" She said laughing.
"Water's fine thanks, I ate at the station."
"Station?" she asked as she filled a glass for him.
"Oh I'm a detective, NYPD.
"Oh wow."
"Yeah..thanks," he said, taking a sip of the water, "So how long have you worked with Julie?"
"Only a few months, I owned an inn in Connecticut but moved to New York when I got the offer from Mike."
"You owned an inn? Why would you give that up to work for the Durham group?...if you don't mind me asking that is."
"Well, it, uh gave me a way out of a complicated relationship."
"The baby's father?"
Lorelai just stared at him. "How did you..."
"I'm a detective. I'm paid to notice the little details. Like the parenting magazines on the counter, and the way you keep smoothing that maternity top and resting your hand on your stomach."
"Oh," Lorelai blushed. "Well, yes, the baby's father."
"Did he hurt you? Physically, I mean?" He surprised Lorelai with how protective he sounded, but she figured it was because Julie had been in that same situation last year.
"N-no. He never hit me or anything like that. Just didn't love me the way I need him to."
"Oh, I'm sorry then."
"No, its okay. I'm getting this little one out of it," she said smiling softly and resting her hand lightly on her belly.
"They you probably got the better end of the deal."
"Probably," she said, glancing over at Katy when she lost interest in eating and returned to the couch and her movie. Following her gaze, Scott smiled, then checked his watch.
"Well we should probably get going before she gets too engrossed in that video. Thanks for watching her, it was a lot of help to be able to get her here, and I know it put Julie's mind at ease.
"It wasn't a problem at all. Katy's a sweetheart."
"Well thanks anyway." He smiled at her, then called to Katy. "Hey Katy-did, time to get going hon, grab your backpack."
At the door, Lorelai tried to give Scott the last minute instructions Julie had given her. "She's got a nightlight and blanket in her bag...and here's my number, in case you need anything, or she gets freaked out."
"I'm sure we'll be fine, but thanks."
"Bye Aunty Lori!"
"Bye Katy honey, bye Scott."
He smiled and waved as he hurried to keep up with Katy, who'd make a beeline for the elevator. "Bye, nice to meet you."
"You too," she said quietly as the elevator doors slid closed.
Lorelai was getting ready to meet Rory for lunch the next afternoon, when her cell phone rang.
"This is Lorelai." She answered.
"Hi Lorelai, this is Scott. Scott Montgomery. Katy's uncle."
"I remember."
"I'm sorry to bother you like this, but I was hoping you could help me."
"Is Katy okay?" Lorelai asked, worried.
"Katy's fine. Something came up with a case I've been working on, and I need to go in. I'm not sure how long it'll take, and she really shouldn't be hanging around the station since I won't be able to watch her, so..."
"You were hoping I could watch her." She finished for him.
"Please." he said sheepishly.
"Sure I can take her for a few hours. I'm actually just on my way out, so can I meet you somewhere to pick her up?"
"That's be great. Would the station be okay with you?"
"Sure, I'll need directions though." She listened quietly and quickly jotted down the directions to his station. "Okay, no problem. I'll see you in a few." Lorelai hung up, grabbed her purse and coat and quickly left her apartment.
Lorelai walked into the station about twenty minutes later and was nearly run over by a pair of cops hurrying out the door. She laughed at how rushed their apologies were, and made her way into the busy station. She stood in the doorway for a moment, looking for Scott, and an older man in a suit approached her.
"Can I help you?" He asked. "I'm Captain Collins."
"I'm looking for Scott, uh, Detective Scott Montgomery."
"He and his partner are in the interrogation room with a suspect at the moment." He eyed her slightly bulging tummy. "If you don't mind me asking, is business, " he gestured around him, "or personal?"
She placed a protective hand over her middle. "Both you could say. I"m a friend of his sister's and I'm here to pick up his niece, since he unexpectedly had to work this weekend." She said pointedly and met his eyes, pleased when he looked duly embarrassed.
"Point taken," he said. "I think Katy's up in the cribs, but you can wait down here til Scott's done."
"No problem," she said, and made her way towards the desk Collins had identified as Scott's to wait for him. It was another twenty minutes until she heard his angry voice, and swivelled in his chair to see him and his partner leaving an interrogation room.
"Damn it." he fumed, and ran his hand through his hair. "We can't hold him, the bastard-" His partner cleared her throat and looked pointedly over his shoulder towards his desk. "What?" he asked annoyed, and turned. "Lorelai!" he exclaimed, his anger dissipating.
"Hey, am I interrupting something?"
"Yes, thank you." His partner said smiling.
"No, not at all," he said at the same time, and surprised her by enveloping her in a friendly hug. He laughed and made a face at his partner. "Let me introduce you guys. Liv, this is Lorelai, Julie's friend, Lorelai, this is Detective Olivia Hart, my partner."
"Nice to meet you." They said at the same time, and laughed as they shook hands.
Lorelai turned to Scott, "Your captain said that Katy was probably in a crib...?"
"Oh yeah, the cribs, that just our rest area upstairs. Hey Martin." he called over her shoulder, "Get Katy for me?"
"Sure thing Montgomery."
"No need for you to trek up there. She'll be down in a minute." He said smiling.
She made a face at him, putting her hands on her hips, pushing her overcoat aside and making her tummy visible. "I'm pregnant, not breakable."
"Whatever," he retorted.
"Aunty Lori!" They heard and turned to see Katy bounding down the stairs, closely followed by the officer Scott had identified as Martin.
"Sorry, she got away from me," the officer laughed as he handed the Care Bear backpack to Scott who currently had the three year old wrapped around his right leg.
"Thanks." Scott took the backpack and rolled his eyes at his fellow officer who, along with Hart, was shooting questioning looks between him and Lorelai, and, more importantly, Lorelai's stomach. "Get out of here." He shot back at both of them, and they snickered, but returned to their desks. "I'm really sorry about all of this, " he said, looking back at Lorelai, who was also trying not to laugh. "What?" he asked, exasperated now.
"Nothing," she giggled. "Its just, some nasty rumors are going to be floating around here about us, judging by all the pointed glances," she gestured at her stomach, "and you're standing there with Katy attached to your leg, and a Care Bear backpack and blanket in your hands." She burst into giggles, and he found himself trying not to laugh as well as her laughter became contagious. "I'm not sure why its so funny...but it just is!"
Scott grinned. "I'm glad you find this so amusing." He laughed. "Okay it is a little funny. Here take the backpack while I work on getting Katy off my leg."
She calmed herself down and took the backpack, and when he'd successfully pried Katy from around his calf, he followed her out to help her transfer the car seat into her car. Once that was done and Katy was securely buckled in, he leaned into the car, whispered something to Katy, laughed, and shut her door.
"What'd you tell her?" Lorelai asked curiously.
"Just told her to be good, and promised her a treat if she was."
"Julie'll love you for bribing and spoiling her daughter."
"Hey, I'm the fun uncle, it's my job."
Lorelai laughed, "Well, we'd better get going, I"m supposed to meet my daughter for a late lunch. You still have my number, so give me a call when you're ready to pick her up." She went around to the driver's side.
"Great, I can't thank you enough."
Lorelai just smiled and climbed into her car, she and Katy waved goodbye, and they drove off, leaving Scott to return to the endless questions of his coworkers.
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