I hope you guys like this chapter, let me know what you think!

It's been a month since Lorelai was released from the hospital, and things in the Gilmore-Danes household were changing, slowly but surely. The baby was developing more every day, and Lorelai's stomach was becoming more obvious. Rory had moved back in and gotten a job at the bookstore with Andrew and was also working as a manager to Lane's band.

Luke had tried to spend as much time at possible at home, as he was becoming increasingly worried about Lorelai. As her pregnancy progressed, she seemed to be the same on the outside, but he could tell that there was something wrong with her.

On the surface, everything was normal; she would kiss him good bye in the morning, and good night before she went to bed. But there were little things that were bothering him. When they sat on the couch to watch TV she didn't snuggle into him anymore, she kept her back towards him when she slept, and her visits to the diner in the middle of the day were becoming less frequent.

Luke knew that none of these things were a big deal, but all together they were beginning to worry him, and she slipped further and further away from him every day.

He sighed as he walked into the storage room to get some more ketchup, then walked back into the diner. It was the usual break between breakfast and lunch, and he noticed the quiet. Usually Lorelai would be here, talking his ear off and keeping him company in the empty diner. But today she hadn't come. Like so many other days, he knew that she would say that she got caught up at work, but he would question that and wonder if there was something that he had done wrong to upset her.

He turned around in surprise when he heard the bells on the door open. He grinned when he saw Lorelai standing before him.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," Lorelai replied, seemingly in a cheerful mood. "I didn't see you this morning, so I figured I'd come see how you are."

"I'm glad you did," Luke said as he came around the counter and kissed her softly. "I had early deliveries, I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"No," Lorelai said.

"Good," Luke said. "Do you want breakfast?"

"Actually I already ate," Lorelai said. "But I was wondering…if there was any chance that we could go for a walk or something and talk."

Luke narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before he nodded. "Sure," he said. "Let me just tell Casear to hold down the fort."

Lorelai nodded as she slid onto a stool to wait for him to come back. A moment later, Luke came out from the kitchen and smiled at Lorelai. "Ready?" he said as he reached out to put a hand on the small of her back.

Lorelai slid out of his grasp and reached for the door. "Yeah," she said.

Luke swallowed hard, trying not to lose control as he followed Lorelai onto the street. He looked over at her, and saw that she was resting both of her hands protectively on her stomach, so there was no way that he could reach out and take her hand easily.

After a few minutes, Luke and Lorelai ended up walking into the gazebo and sitting down. Lorelai stared out across the green, facing away from Luke. After a long moment, he cleared his throat and asked, "Uh, was there something specific that you wanted to talk about?"

Lorelai turned her head to face him, and he was shocked to see tears running down her face. "Lorelai?" he asked. "What's wrong?" he pulled her into his arms, and the simple gesture made her tears come even harder, and she began to sob against his chest. Luke held her tightly, giving her time to calm down before she could tell him what was wrong.

Several minutes later, Lorelai finally pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

Luke tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. "What's going on?" he asked gently. "Lorelai, something's been going on with you for weeks, and I've tried to be patient so you can tell me what's wrong. But I hate seeing you cry, so please, just tell me. Did I do something wrong? I don't think I did, but if I upset you in any way, I'm sorry…"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Lorelai whispered. "I just…ever since I was in the hospital, I've felt like…I don't know, that things are different between us."

"Me too," Luke said softly. "Do you know why that is?"

"You never hold my hand, or lay with me in bed," Lorelai continued. "And when I tried to get in the shower with you last week you hopped right out."

"Oh, Lorelai," Luke said softly. "You were thinking that I didn't want you?"

Hearing the words come from his mouth made Lorelai sob again, and she nodded through her tears. Luke swallowed hard, wondering what he could do to make her feel better. According to his book, it was best to let her calm down before he reasoned with her, but he couldn't leaver her crying and thinking that he didn't love her.

"We've been through this before, Lorelai," Luke said softly. "You know that I'll love you no matter what."

"Right," Lorelai scoffed. "Until I nearly kill your baby."

"What?" Luke was aghast that she even thought that. "Lorelai, I never blamed you for what happened. It wasn't anyone's fault, it was just the baby's way of telling you to calm down so he could be happier. He's already a smart little guy."

Lorelai sniffled as she looked up at him. "You never thought it was my fault?" she asked softly.

"No," Luke said as he took her face into his hands. "And I'm sorry that you've been going all these weeks thinking that I did. I've missed you."

"I've been right here," Lorelai said softly.

"I missed the real you," Luke said. "And I hope you're coming back to stay."

Lorelai smiled softly. "Well, I can't make any promises," she said with a slight laugh.

Luke leaned forward and kissed her deeply. Lorelai smiled against his lips before she took control and deepened the kiss. A moment later she pulled back with a gasp.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked in a panic.

"Nothing," Lorelai replied. "Here." She took his hand and guided it to her belly. Luke rested it there for a moment before he felt it.

"Is that the baby?" he asked in disbelief.

Lorelai nodded with a grin. "Yeah," she said. "I've felt it move before, but it felt more like butterflies or something. This is the first time I've felt him really move."

"That's so amazing," Luke whispered. "I still can't believe this."

Lorelai leaned forward and stroked his cheek. "It's true, babe," she said. "And if you still don't believe it, in about four months in the delivery room, you'll know."

Luke smiled and pulled Lorelai up to her feet. "Come on," he said. "We're taking the rest of the day off. We've been through a lot the last month, and we need to spend some quality time together."

Lorelai smiled as they began to walk across the green to the jeep.

XXXXX

When they arrived at their house, Lorelai sighed as she collapsed onto the couch. "So, what are we going to do today on our wonderful day off together?" she asked Luke.

Luke smiled as he slid onto the couch behind Lorelai. He wrapped his arms around her and placed his hands on her belly. "I don't know," he said. "I just want to hold you."

Lorelai settled deeper into the warmth of her husband's arms. "God, I love the way I feel in your arms," she mumbled.

Luke stroked a hand over her belly. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"Having a baby," Luke replied. "Giving birth."

Lorelai sighed. "Yes," she said. "I gave birth to Rory in the delivery room surrounded by doctors and nurses. I'd never felt more alone in my life. But as soon as they handed her to me, I knew that I wasn't alone anymore. No matter what, I knew that this little girl would be my entire life."

"You did it," Luke said. "By yourself. And this time I'll be there with you."

"This time is so different," Lorelai said. "There was so much going on in my pregnancy with Rory, and now there was only the Braxton Hicks, and they're gone now."

"You mean the whole teenage pregnancy thing?" Luke asked.

"Well, there was that," Lorelai said. "But physically, giving birth at sixteen is a huge risk. There was a point in the beginning where they told me that I was having twins. I never told Christopher or my parents, and at the next appointment they told me that they were wrong. But the doctors were always concerned about how giving birth would effect me. I went through I little bit of postpartum depression."

"How come you never told me this?" Luke asked softly.

Lorelai shrugged. "I never told anyone," she said. "I was never officially diagnosed or anything, but there were times that I would just sit in my room and cry for no reason. But then I would look at Rory, and know that this innocent little angel needed me. I was all she had, really, and I had to be strong for her."

"Is that why you ran away?"

"Yes," Lorelai replied. "I came to Stars Hollow because it seemed like everyone cared for each other no matter what. So I got off the bus and walked into the inn. To this day, I still think that Mia hired me out of pity. Can you honestly imagine me as a maid?"

Luke smiled softly as he hugged her tightly. "I'm glad you got off the bus here," he said.

"Me too," Lorelai replied. "But I wish we wouldn't have taken it so long to get it together. I mean, it took us eight years to realize what an amazing thing we have here."

"I knew," Luke said softly. "When you gave me that horoscope…I was just captivated by you."

Lorelai turned so that she could look at him. "You loved me all that time?" she asked.

"Not…loved," Luke said, choosing his words carefully. "I had strong feelings for you, feelings I've never felt for anyone. But they didn't even compare to what it was like to actually be with you, to hold you and call you my wife."

"How come you never said anything?" Lorelai asked.

"I tried," Luke said. "A couple of times. When you got engaged to Max, I came over here before your date, I was going to tell you that you wanted to date you, but before I could he showed up, and then you got engaged, and I couldn't do anything about it anymore."

"I must have hurt you so badly," Lorelai said softly. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't like you'd purposely turned me down," Luke said. "You didn't even know. But I felt like I'd lost you forever, and I never forgave myself for that."

"Luke, I called that wedding off because of you," Lorelai said softly. "When you brought that chuppah over, I knew that there was no way that I could get married to Max under it because I would be thinking of you the entire time. And then I would have probably pulled a Ross and said your name in the vows, and I realized that if I was going to be thinking about while I was getting married to another man, then it probably wasn't the smartest move to make."

"I'm glad you made that decision," Luke said. "I don't know where I would be now if you'd married him."

"There was so much time in between I broke up with Max and when we got together," Lorelai said. "Why didn't you say anything then?"

"I tried, once," Luke said. "When we painted the diner and we were sitting on the floor behind the counter, I was leaning in to kiss you when Taylor burst in."

Lorelai raised her eyes in surprise. "You nearly kissed me?" she said. "How come I don't remember this?"

"I don't know," Luke said. "But every time I tried to work up the courage to talk to you, there was Christopher, or Max again, or Jason."

Lorelai bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

Luke kissed her gently. "Don't be sorry," he said. "I'm the one who gets to keep you."

"I just hate that we wasted so much time," Lorelai said. After a moment, she looked up at him and frowned. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Luke said.

"How come you were with Nicole?" Lorelai asked. "You met her a long time after I broke up with Max."

Luke sighed and leaned down to rest his forehead against her shoulder. "I dated her because I thought there was no chance between you and me. But getting married to her was the biggest mistake of my life, and I don't know why I let it happen. But if anything, I knew that when it was over with Nicole, you were the only one I wanted to be with. That's why I invited you to Liz's wedding."

"That's when I knew for the first time," Lorelai said. "I mean, you were great when I was so upset about the inn and I had a feeling about it, but that was when I really knew. I never thought that you would have danced like that."

"You wanted to," Luke said. "Even then, I would have done anything to make you happy."

"I was too blind to see it," Lorelai said. "I thought you always gave in to me just to shut me up."

"Sometimes I did," Luke teased.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Haha," she said. She leaned into him and sighed. "I'm glad that we could talk," she said. "You know what's been going on over the past month?"

"What?" Luke asked, curling a strand of her hair around his finger.

"A lack of communication," Lorelai replied. "We're married now, Luke, and we don't have to hide our feelings from each other. I'm just as guilty of it as you are, but we've got to work on it. I don't want something like this to happen every time one of us gets upset."

"I hate fighting with you thought," Luke said.

"Me too," Lorelai agreed. "But then we can have make up sex."

Luke stroked her stomach. "Not for much longer," he said. "It'll induce labor before too long."

Lorelai made a face. "You're right," she said. "Maybe we should have as much sex as possible in the next few weeks to make up for all the time that we won't be able to do it."

"Sounds good to me," Luke said as he lowered his lips to her neck.

Lorelai leaned back onto the couch and was pulling Luke on top of her when they heard the door open. "Hey, I'm home!" Rory cried.

Luke pulled back from Lorelai quickly, and she sat up from the arm of the couch to smile at Rory. "Hi, hon," she said.

"Hi," Rory said. "How come you're home, Dad?" she asked.

"I needed to talk to your mom about something," Luke replied.

Rory watched as Lorelai smiled and leaned into Luke. "So you guys sorted out whatever was going on between you?" she asked hopefully.

Luke and Lorelai exchanged a look. "Yes," Lorelai said. "You noticed?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom, it wasn't exactly rocket science," she said. "You were both so miserable since you got back from the hospital. I'm glad it's worked out."

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks, babe," she said. She held out her hand to Rory. "Come here, I want to show you something cool."

Rory stepped forward and held out her hand. Lorelai placed it on her stomach and held it there for a moment. Rory frowned. "Mom, why am I touching your stomach?" she asked.

"Just wait a second," Lorelai said. After a moment the baby kicked and Rory jumped back with a shriek, causing Lorelai and Luke to laugh.

"Is that him?" Rory asked a moment later.

"Yeah," Lorelai replied. "Your little brother's decided to start moving around, which means I probably wont get a good night's sleep now until he's about five."

"I wasn't that bad, was I?" Rory asked.

"Please," Lorelai scoffed. "You were horrible. If there was a bird outside your window you freaked out and had to come sleep in my bed."

Rory sighed. "I suppose you're right," she said. "But we had some of our best bonding time cuddling in your bed in the potting shed."

Lorelai smiled fondly as she remembered. "I know," she said. "As hard as those times were, I wouldn't trade them."

"Me neither," Rory replied as she sat down in the chair across from the couch. "Did I ever say thank you for taking me away from Grandma and Grandpa's? Because I can't imagine how different things would have been if you hadn't."

"I know," Lorelai said with a nod. "But Luke and I have taken enough trips down memory lane today. What do you say about lunch?"

Rory's eyes lit up. "Yeah!" she cried. "Where should we go?"

"How about Teryaki Joe's?" Lorelai suggested.

"Why not the diner?" Luke asked.

"We eat there all the time," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, and since you're here, there's no point in us ordering from the diner," Rory added.

"The diner doesn't deliver."

"You always did for us," Lorelai said.

"Cause you were in love with Mom."

Luke sighed. "Guilty," he said as he smiled at Lorelai. "All right, let's go get some lunch."

Lorelai grinned as Luke took her hands and pulled her to her feet. Rory walked into her room for a moment, and Lorelai took advantage of the opportunity to kiss Luke passionately. "I promise," she whispered in his ear when they'd broken apart. "That I will make up for all the times that could have been between us."

Luke leaned forward and kissed her gently. "You've already done that," he said softly. "And so much more."

Before Lorelai could respond, Rory came out of her room and rolled her eyes. "Can't you two take your hands off of each other for a second?" she asked. "There are young, impressionable children in the room."

Lorelai laughed as she let go of Luke. "Hun, I hate to break it to you, but you're twenty one," she said. "That means you're no longer a child, and you haven't been impressionable since you were about three years old."

"Well, that doesn't mean that I should be able to watch my parents make out all the time," Rory replied. "Seriously, that could do some pretty damaging things."

"We're just making up for lost time," Lorelai replied. She turned to Luke and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door. "Come on, Lukey, your son and I are hungry."

Luke rolled his eyes as he and Rory followed Lorelai out of the house.

XXXX

After they'd ordered, Rory looked across the table and smiled at her parents. "So, can I ask you guys something?" she asked gingerly.

"Sure," Lorelai said. "What's up, babe?"

"Well, I was just wondering where the baby's going to go," Rory said. "I don't know what you guys have talked about, but there isn't a whole lot of room, and you can't have him living in your room forever."

Luke and Lorelai exchanged looks before Luke replied, "We decided that we're going to talk to Tom and see if he has any suggestions of how we can make an extra room on the house somehow."

Rory nodded. "I was just wondering, because I heard at work this morning that Old Man Twickham died this morning," she said.

"Aw, that's too bad," Lorelai said. "He's been sick ever since we moved here."

"What does this have to do with the baby?" Luke asked.

"Well, Taylor already has plans to make the house into a Stars Hollow Museum," Rory said. "But it's still on the market."

Lorelai and Luke looked at each other. "You want us to move?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, I don't want you to not move because you think that I'm attached to the house or anything," Rory said. "I know you, Mom, and I do love our house. But you and Luke are having a baby, and I want my little brother to be comfortable. Our family means more to me than the house."

Lorelai eyed Rory suspiciously. "Why do I think that there's more to the story than you're telling me?" she asked.

Rory stared at her mother for a moment. "Well, I might know of someone possibly putting a down payment on the house for you," she said cautiously.

"Who would buy us a house?" Luke asked. "We weren't planning on moving."

"Rory," Lorelai said. "Does this have something to do with your grandparents?"

Rory didn't say anything, and Lorelai rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Where are you going?" Luke asked.

"To give Emily Gilmore a piece of my mind," Lorelai replied. "Where does she get off thinking that she can just buy us a house and make everything up to me? I don't think so."

"Lorelai, you have to calm down," Luke said. "This isn't good for the baby."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "You're right," she said. "But I need to talk to her," she said. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"All right," Luke said cautiously. "But I'm going with you."

"Me too," Rory said.

"I don't need supervision," Lorelai said. "If I kill her, I'll confess."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I just thought that if they're buying us a house, I should be there for this discussion."

Lorelai looked at him for a moment before she nodded and walked out of the restaurant without a word. Luke let out a nervous breath as he and Rory followed Lorelai out to the car. This was going to be an interesting evening to say the least.

If anyone wants an input on what will happen in the next chapter, let me know!