Chapter 20: Happy Birthday…

"Open it! Open it! Open it!" Lorelai squealed as her daughter opened her present very slowly. Rory grinned, then did her mother the favor and ripped the paper off.

"You are crazy!" she screamed, looking at the Compact Oxford English Dictionary. The one she had owned had gone AWOL during her moving out of her grandparents poolhouse into the main house. She still wasn't sure if her Grandmother… no, she wouldn't do something like that.

"It still has the word 'jiggy' inside. Though I don't know when to use it… or why."

"It's way too expensive!"

"I know, that's what we told the guy at the store!" Luke grinned putting his arm around his wife. Rory just hugged both of them, then continued to unpack a little present that came with the Dictionary. It contained a magnifying glass. In the meantime Sookie brought in the cake and set it down on the coffee table with everybody singing 'Happy Birthday'.

Looking at the candles on top of the cake Rory had to smile.

"At least I don't get to hack into my own face this time!" she grinned before blowing out the candles and getting herself the very first piece.

"And you didn't give me the time for my speech!" Lorelai complained leaning onto Luke who was by now stroking her belly.

"Yeah. You would have looked very serious and then, after a very well placed pause you would have started to tell a joke."

"Please, when have I done something like that?" her mother asked.

"Everytime you threw her a party", Luke chimed in laughing and in the same moment could feel one of the babies kick his hand.

"Hey, son, you should be on my side! There's way too less testosterone around here…"

Everybody ignored the chiming of the doorbell.

"Well, he's helping mommy as long as he's living inside her."

The doorbell chimed again.

"Maybe the kick was ment to support me?"

"By giving me hematomes from the inside…"

The doorbell chimed the third time.

"May I?" Lorelai wispered causing her husband to smile.

"Sure…"

"Who the hell is ringing the bell? It's a party! Get your ass in here!" she exclaimed over the music.

"It is still asses, Lorelai", her father grinned, dragging his wife along with him.

Rory looked at her mother before turning towards her grandparents. Seeing that she was still smiling she got up to greet them.

While her daughter was hugging her grandparents Lorelai freed herself out of Luke's embrace and headed for the kitchen.

"My mother's here", was all she said, startling Sookie out of her concentration. The chickenwings however did survive the jump the chef of the Dragonfly Inn made.

"Is that good or bad?" she asked studying the face of her best friend.

"I don't know. She didn't show up at her only daughters wedding. I didn't expect her to come to her granddaughters birthday. Now I know once again where her priorities lie."

"Isn't that a little bit unfair of you, Lorelai?"

"I'm the hormonal pregnant woman here. I have the right to be unfair", Lorelai snapped being sorry in the same moment.

"I didn't mean that."

"I know. Probably it's not quite the right time to tell you…"

"Tell me what?"

"Yeah, tell her what?" Rory asked, joining them in the kitchen and hugging her mother once more for the present she and Luke got her.

"We're out of ice", Sookie admitted.

"How could we be out of ice? We had a ton of ice! Lars the polar bear would have felt at home!" Rory exclaimed. Sookie just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know how it happened, I just know it happened. Somehow we'll have to deal with it…"

"It's okay, Sookie. I'll go and get some."

"You're the birthday girl, Rory. You shouldn't go…"

"I'm pretty much the only one who isn't pregnant around here, and Paris doesn't count 'cause she is discussing the pros and cons of dog leashes with Kirk."

Taking her car keys she was just about to leave the house as the front door opened, revealing Jess who was carrying two blue plastic bags filled with ice.

"Oh my god! You're a vision!"

"Hey, if I know one thing 'bout birthdays then that you can't have enough ice", he grinned.

She just jumpend into his arms and kissed him as Emily made her way from the living room into the kitchen. Staring at the kissing couple for a while she just couldn't help to remember how a very similar scene had turned out.

"Luke! Sookie needs your help!" Lorelai yelled almost running her mother over on her way back into the living room. Emily watched Rory and Jess walking into the kitchen followed by Luke and then turned to her daughter.

"What are you going to do about this?"

Lorelai sighed.

"About what, mother?"

"Isn't that this guy who just ran away? How can you allow your daughter to interact with him again?"

"My daughter is 22. I'm not asked anymore. And he has changed."

"Please. She has potential! She's been with one of the Huntzbergers! He'll only…"

"I have to go to the bathroom", Lorelai announced and turned away from her mother.

"You can't just run away from me!" Emily exclaimed, following her.

"I can. I'm the one whose bladder is used as a punching bag. I get to go to the bathroom when I want to, not when you decide that the conversation is over. And now stop following me", Lorelai snapped.

"Oh no, we will talk about this."

"Fine…" Ignoring her mother Lorelai headed for the stairs.

Luke grabbed the ellbow of his nephew with his free hand, having been dragged into cooking by Sookie. Indicating Emily following Lorelai with a determined expression on her face he growled: "Follow them. If she upsets Lorelai, kill her!"