Emma woke up on an April Saturday morning with a groan. 6 months pregnant was not something she was enjoying. Her back was really starting to hurt. Neal was already up and she could hear him cooking away downstairs. As was getting habit now, Emma drifted her hand down to her growing belly. She was strangely fascinated with what her son was doing to her body.

"Morning, kid," Emma whispered softly. Even though they knew it was a boy neither of them could get out of the habit of calling their son 'kid'. Emma wondered if they ever would.

At that moment, Emma felt a strange sensation in her stomach. It made her giggle. The only way she could describe it was a muscle spasm. It happened again and Emma pulled the covers back. She couldn't see anything but could the baby moving once more.

"Easy kid," the movement happened again the second she stopped speaking. "Neal!"

She heard the sound of him moving quickly from downstairs, the clattering of utensils as he put them down and moved towards the stairs.

"What?" he called as his footsteps came up the stairs but Emma didn't answer him until he entered the room, too fascinated by their son to bother. She giggled and almost felt Neal relax.

"I think he has hiccups," Emma laughed in explanation as she looked at Neal's confused face. The grin that broke out from her words may have been Emma's new favourite: so excited and slightly proud. Then she turned her voice to whispers, "you can feel it, come here."

Neal crossed the room quickly, kneeling down next to her side of the bed. She guided his hand to where she could feel the boys' hiccups and pressed it against her skin. Their son did not disappoint his dad, though Emma doubted he could help it, and hiccupped once more. Emma giggled again, finding the sensation incredibly strange. Neal's grin had softened and he leaned forward.

"It's okay, kid," he murmured to her stomach and Emma found herself less amused. God, she loved Neal. "Just a hold your breath. Ready?" – a grin found its way onto Emma's face as Neal held his breath and the hiccups stopped – "and release."

Another little muscle spasm of a hiccup, and Emma laughed again, placing a hand on Neal's cheek, "nice try."

Neal smiled up at her, his eyes so full of affection and love that Emma felt her heart swell and warmth rush over her. He moved slowly but eventually captured her lips in a slow, soft and short kiss.

"Breakfast?" he murmured against her lips and Emma nodded.

Though she didn't need it, Emma appreciated the help out of bed that Neal offered her even if her stubborn nature didn't allow her to take it. He kissed her on the cheek and headed off to finish the breakfast whilst Emma got dressed. She was halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rang.

"Are we expecting people?" Emma asked Neal as she walked down the rest of the steps – keeping a good amount of concentration on her feet – but found her question answered as she saw three plates instead of the normal two around the table rather than on the breakfast counter.

Emma sent him a confused look but he smiled innocently at her, gesturing with his head to door. Emma frowned at the back that now faced her but turned to open the front door. Standing behind it with a tattered brown case was Lorelai – her dark hair held back by a ratty bit of fabric but still in her usual attire of jeans, converses and weird top.

"Hi, Em!" she beamed widely. "Surprise!"

Emma gaped at her as Lorelai let herself in, brushing past Emma to put her bag in the house. She then turned and threw her arms around her. Emma stood there in shock for a second but slowly returned the hug, giving Neal an exasperated look across Lorelai's shoulder.

"It is a surprise, right?" Lorelai gasped pulling back and glancing at Neal angrily. "Your guy over there didn't ruin it, did he?"

"No," Emma said, taking a good look at her friend, "color me surprised."

Lorelai squealed happily and hugged her tightly again. Emma laughed this time and pushed her away teasingly.

"You're so big!" Lorelai gasped, taking in Emma's appearance and Emma grimaced her in response. She did not like lugging around the kid 24/7. "So it's a boy, right? That's what you said on the phone? Have you decided on a name or are you still calling him 'kid' all the time? Oh! Can I be godmother?"

Emma scoffed out a laugh having reached Neal as Lorelai fired off her questions. She was talking but Emma leant next to Neal.

"I suppose you had something to do with this?" she whispered fondly and he glanced down at her with twinkling eyes.

"You haven't made any friends down here yet and I know Tallahassee isn't all we planned," he shrugged, keeping his voice low. "I just – I thought this might help."

Emma smiled at him and squeezed his arm, "thank you."

He pressed a kiss to her temple and Emma focused her attention back on Lorelai only to notice she had stopped talking and was now watching them curiously.

"I'd be offended if you guys didn't look so happy," she joked and Emma glanced at Neal. He thought she was still struggling, and she was, but things were getting better. The pressure of Tallahassee and the baby no longer seem so suffocating as it had a month ago; not when Neal made an effort to come with her to every appointment and she'd managed to get a little job in a flower shop that she could do while she was pregnant to help with the bills. They'd cut down too, both admitting that the thrill of having money and their new start had made them a little bit more reckless than they would have been.

"Breakfast, Lorelai?" Neal offered, changing the subject and gesturing to the table.

"Oh, god yes," Lorelai practically danced to sit down at their table. Emma had forgotten how energetic she was. "I'm absolutely starving. Do have any coffee?"

Emma smiled fondly and put the kettle on. She saw Neal hover for a second but they'd already had arguments in the last few days as her back began to hurt about him trying to make her spend her life doing nothing. He'd fought her on getting that job in the florist to begin with and that was before the baby began killing her spine. She shot him a look over her shoulder and he took the hint, sitting down with Lorelai. Emma felt his eyes on her the whole time though until she sat down next to him.