OK I actually didn't have the intention of getting done with this chapter today but I'm glad I did. Here's the final official chapter of the story. There will be an epilogue. I'm going to try to get it out soon but I've started writing Gossip Girl Fan Fiction again and so I'm trying to balance writing 2 stories. I will be doing both but timewise you'll just have to impatient. To anyone who has had a baby, if my facts are off, forgive me. My experience in this area is limited and I did have to get my sister's help on some of it. She's had two girls. I hope you like it and the name is going to be revealed in the epilogue. Please review! I love reading them. Speaking of Addicted to FICS, I couldn't reply to yours because you have private messages turned off. I had to reply to everyone's via PM because of the link error that comes up when I try to submit from email. Anyway, please review!
June 18th, 10 days before Rory's due date
3:18am
"Logan." I nudge him. "Logan."
"What?" He mumbles in his sleep.
"Wake up. We need to go to the hospital."
He bolts awake. "Are you sure?"
I'm already out of loud, getting dressed. "Yes, come on."
Three hours later, we're just getting back from the hospital. Turns out it was false labor. The doctor gave me a pamphlet on how I'll be able to tell the difference.
Logan's not acting mad but he's not happy about the fact that he now has to go to work sleep-deprived. He'll survive. It's about time he gets to feeling some of the discomfort I've had to put up with for the last 9 months.
He's in the shower right now and I slowly get in and start to wash my hair under my shower head.
"Are you going to be ready to go in half an hour?" He asks.
"Probably. Why?"
"Because we're riding together." He tells me.
"I'm very capable of getting myself to work, Logan." I tell him as I run conditioner through my hair and rinse it out.
"Just humor me, Ace."
I finish washing the body wash off of me. "Fine, whatever." I get out and dry myself off. OK, so maybe I'm getting a little pissed off. "I'm going to go eat breakfast." I grab my robe and put it on and head for the kitchen. I eat my Cheerios slowly. It's tasting rather bland. It takes me 15 out of the 30 minutes to eat it. I come back up and Logan's almost ready to go.
"Did you just finish eating?"
"Get off my back, Logan." I snap as I head into my closet to pick out something to wear.
"What is your problem?"
"Just go to work and I'll meet you there, OK?"
"Rory…"
"I'm fine, Logan. I will get to work on time. Please just go onto work."
He sighs. "Fine."
It's not his fault. I shouldn't be taking out my frustration on him. I hear about all these women who have Braxton-Hicks contractions thinking that they're the real thing and I was thinking to myself, how can you not tell the difference? I was sure I'd be able to tell the difference. Yeah, I was wrong. The doctor told me that when I was in labor, the contractions would be closer together. Mine are still really uneven. I had false labor.
By the time I get to work, it's quarter after 8. I don't normally start work until 8:30. A few minutes after I arrive, Jordan, my secretary, knocks on my door and comes in. She's reading what needs to be done today and I'm staring off into space.
"Rory…Rory."
I jolt back to reality. "Yeah?"
"Are you OK?" Jordan asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had an early morning."
"False labor?" She asks.
"Yeah." I sigh. "I really thought I'd be able to tell the difference."
"Don't feel bad. I wasn't able to. Actually, I don't know any woman who went straight into labor without having false labor with their first baby. My second baby I was better able to tell but not with Kayla." Jordan has a boy and a girl. Kayla's 3 and Devin is 20 months.
"Thanks." I smile. "That makes me feel better to know it's not just me."
"Oh, of course it's not just you. "
"Thanks."
"Do you need anything right now?"
"No, I'm fine. Thanks, Jordan."
"Sure. Just let me know if you need something."
"Will do. Thanks."
Jordan leaves and I get onto my computer to proof some of the articles. The next issue is due out on Friday and it's getting to be crunch time. At nine-thirty, an instant message comes up from Logan. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to him since I got to work.
Logan Huntzberger- How are you feeling?
Just as I told Logan before we got married, I did stick with my maiden name professionally. Even though Mitchum has not ties to this company, I just think it's better to do things this way anyway. Logan understands that.
Rory Gilmore-I'm fine; I'm tired
Logan Huntzberger-Well, yeah. I know; I am too.
Rory Gilmore-I'm sure you are but it's not the same. Your daughter won't stop kicking which makes it difficult to sleep. Besides, this morning was a disappointment.
Logan Huntzberger-Ace don't think of it like that. She'll come when she's ready. Are you going to meet me for lunch?
Rory Gilmore-I'm taking a nap during lunch.
Logan Huntzberger- Rory you need to eat something.
Rory Gilmore-I will before I take my nap.
Logan Huntzberger-Do you want to go home? You can always work from home.
Rory Gilmore-No, I'm fine. I'm already starting my maternity leave a whole week early. I'll be fine. I'm just going to rest my eyes for awhile.
Logan Huntzberger-Come up here and rest on your lunch.
I keep reading that over and over.
Rory Gilmore-Why? I'm fine down here, Logan.
Logan Huntzberger-Because you won't have to worry about disruptions. Besides my couch is more comfortable than yours when it comes to sleeping.
I'm not sure I even want to know how he knows that.
Rory Gilmore-Fine. I'll be up around noon.
Logan Huntzberger-I love you
I smile. I really needed to hear that…I mean read that right now.
Rory Gilmore-Love you too Logan. Need to finish proofing. See you soon.
I sign off and return to proofing articles. I'm meeting with my assistant editor, Coral, in half an hour. She will be taking over for me while I'm on maternity leave. She's slightly older than me and she was editor of Columbia's newspaper for 3 years. She's been an amazing help especially since I've had to make frequent trips to the doctor for my appointments.
My cell phone starts ringing then. I glance at the caller ID. It's my dad.
"Hey dad."
"Hey kiddo. How are you feeling?"
"Oh, I'm tired. It's been a long day and it's only 10:15."
"Did you make a trip to the hospital?"
"Yeah I did but it was a false alarm." I sigh.
"So where are you at right now?"
"In my office at work."
"Really? You didn't stay at home?"
"I can't right now, dad. There's a new issue coming out and the deadline is in a couple days. Besides Logan and I talked on the way home from the hospital and we decided that, per the doctor's recommendation, that I would start my maternity leave a whole week early. Are you and Gigi coming out when the baby's born?"
"We wouldn't miss it." My dad laughs.
"That's great. Mom's unsure if she's going to make it." I admit.
"Really?" He sounds surprised.
"Well, it would be the 1st trip flying with Ayden. He's only 4 months old so she's not sure whether or not to make the trip. I fully understand." I tell him. "We both have webcams so she'll be able to see her granddaughter even if she's not here in person."
I finish talking to my dad a few minutes later but not before he brings up about the conversation he had with Gigi about the whole baby thing. He knows that I told her to ask him about it. I told him I wasn't going to deprive him of the opportunity to explain. I have to worry about this topic 6 or 7 years (hopefully she'll wait that long) from now. When I asked him what he told her, he said he told her there was a magic fairy and she used her wand and touched a lady's tummy, she got to have a baby. I died laughing. I'll give him points for creativity. I didn't think he'd really talk to her about sex but I did think he'd answer the question differently.
My meeting with Coral goes good. I really have no doubt that she'll do a great job. I head into my private bathroom before I head up to Logan's office. I never requested it but it will be good when it comes time to do nursing. From what I read, expressing milk can be very time consuming. While I know that formula is probably quicker, it's also more costly. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw the prices. Seriously? $20 for a can of formula? It's ridiculous. Besides, ever since I got that breast pump from Sookie, it got me to thinking. My mom has told me about how great the bond is between her and Ayden. She's been raving about nursing so I decided overall, it may be the best option for me. Of course, that doesn't mean that Logan is going to be exempt from feeding duties. After all, that is what the breast pump is for.
I get to Logan's office shortly after quarter to 12. I know how it's really unprofessional to nap at work but I would never do it during any time I'm getting paid for. I would think Scott would be understanding. Then again, Logan would remind me. Scott isn't my boss; he is.
I go in and see Logan's currently on the phone.
"No, not yet…you know I would have called you had she went into labor."
I look at him curiously and he grins at me.
"I'm not mad…no I'm not…I'm just tired. I need to go though. Rory's here. Yeah, I'll talk to you later. Yeah, I love you too. I'll see you soon. Bye."
"You know, until you said 'I love you too' I thought you were talking to Finn."
"I was." He tells me.
"What?"
He laughs. "I'm just kidding. It was Honor."
I laugh. He comes around his desk and gives me a kiss. "How are you doing?
"I'm doing fine."
"Are you hungry?" He asks and I shake my head.
"No, I went down to the café at 11 and grabbed some food."
Logan gives me a skeptical look.
"Logan, your daughter is fine. She and I have already eaten. I told you I was going to eat before I came up here."
"OK. As long as you're sure."
"I am." I confirm as I take a seat on his couch. I'm so glad that I decided to wear pants today. It's a rarity that I do but I really didn't want to deal with trying to get pantyhose on. "By the way, years from now, when you give that birds and bees talk to our daughter, try to be more creative than a fairy used her wand to make someone pregnant."
He stares at me curiously. "What?"
"Yeah, that's what my dad told Gigi when she asked."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Come on Logan. Would I make that up?"
He dies laughing. "That's too funny."
"Yeah, don't get any ideas about using that." I lay down.
"I wouldn't have even thought of that honestly."
I start to close my eyes. It's taking strength to keep them open.
"I'm going to go get some food from downstairs. Do you want me to bring you anything?"
"I'm fine." I mumble as I drift off to sleep.
The next thing I know I hear tapping on a keyboard. It takes me a second to remember that I'm at work and in Logan's office on his couch.
"Hey Ace. Sleep OK?"
"What time is it Logan?"
"Uhh…just before 2."
My eyes widen. "2! Damn it Logan! Why didn't you wake me up? I was only going to sleep during my lunch. God, this is going to look so bad to my people." I fly up from the couch…well, as quick as I can.
"Rory, would you relax? I checked with Jordan. You didn't have anything on your schedule until 2:30 anyway. You're fine."
"This will look so bad to them, Logan." I argue.
"No it won't." He insists. "No one knows you were taking a nap except for me. I told Jordan that we were reviewing ideas for the next issue. I asked her the next time you had something on your schedule and she said it was 2:30."
"I need to get downstairs." I head for the door. "Issue's coming out on Friday and I need to finish proofing."
"Rory, I've been doing that for you."
"What?"
"Yeah, that's what I've been doing."
"As much as I appreciate you doing that, Logan, it's unnecessary."
"I'm just trying to help you out."
"I know. Thank you but I'm OK." I go over to his desk and give him a kiss. "I'll see you later." I give him another kiss.
"Bye Ace. I love you."
"Love you too. Bye."
2 days later
Friday, June 20th
9am
Everyone on my team is assembling in the conference room in our area. This is going to be the last meeting I give before I go on maternity leave. It's more or less to just go over the way things will be while I'm away. The contractions have been coming and going the last couple days. They are still pretty uneven. I know pretty much for a fact that I'm going to be having her before my due date. She's being very insistent on coming early.
"Hey everyone." I greet them warmly as I shut the door. "This won't be a long meeting. We need to get the issue…" I pause for a second because I can feel a contraction start to come on. "out today." I finish my sentence after about 15 seconds.
"Rory?" I hear one of my writers, Bella, call to me.
"Yeah?" I ask.
"Are you OK?"
"Yeah, fine."
"Are you sure you're not going into labor?" One of the guys, Kevin, asks.
I shake my head. "No, I don't think so. Not yet anyway."
"Maybe we should call Logan." Coral says.
"No don't." I think I startle her with my response. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just…I think it's still too premature. The contractions are still really uneven. If they get closer together, I'll get him then." I tell all of them. "Let's keep going though. I want to thank you for all of your hard work to get this issue out. It's well appreciated. As you all probably know, I will be starting my maternity leave on Monday and I'll be gone for 8 weeks. Coral is going to be editing in my place. Logan, of course, will be here for the majority of the time if you would need him. He's going to be off the 1st two weeks but he'll be here after that." I turn to Coral. "By the way, I don't know if he plans on doing this or not but if he starts popping up down here to check on things, don't take it personally." I tell her as another contraction starts to hit me.
"I won't." She tells me and then notices my expression. "Rory, you OK?"
I nod.
"OK, I really think we should get Logan." She says and I'm quick to argue.
"No seriously not yet. They're not even yet. I'm OK. Really." Me reassuring them is apparently doing nothing for them. "I will however let Coral finish the meeting for me."
Coral continues and talks about the next issue and a few minutes later, I get a surprise.
"We just wanted to tell you congratulations and good luck." Coral says as Jordan comes in wheeling a cake and ice cream.
"Oh, that's really sweet of you guys. Thank you."
Everyone grabs some cake and ice cream. It's very good chocolate cake. I make it through most of the cake and all of my ice cream when it starts again. I look at the clock: 9:21. They've evened out. They're every 7 minutes. Everyone's still watching me.
"Rory, let me get Logan." Jordan says.
"No, no it's OK." I tell them as I stand up. "I'm going to call the doctor then I'll get Logan. Everyone, 9:30 is the magic time to go back to work. Thanks for the cake and ice cream. I'll have Logan keep you posted."
I get lots of well wishes from everyone as I waddle back to my office. I reach my cell phone and call Dr. Nathan. She's my OB-GYN. After talking to her, she OK'd me to head to the hospital. Now I have to go get Logan. I ask Nicole where he's at and she tells me in a meeting with Scott and Mark. I find the conference room and knock.
"Come in." I hear Scott call.
I poke my head in first then head in. "Hi." I tell them.
"Hi Rory." Scott tells me.
"Hey Rory." Mark says.
"Sorry to interrupt but Logan, we need to go."
"Rory, it's false labor." Logan tells me without turning around.
"No it's not, Logan. It's real this time. I just spent the last half hour freaking out my staff downstairs. I've called the doctor. She told me to go to the hospital. Now get your ass up and drive me there or I'll drive myself there."
"Logan, drive her to the hospital." Scott interjects. "My wife's had 3 kids so I have an idea on this."
"How far apart are your contractions?" Logan asks as he finally turns around.
"Seven minutes now get your ass moving." I demand.
"Logan, both of our wives have had babies. Get her to the hospital." Mark tells him.
Logan finally gets up and follows me out of the room. As soon as he does and I shut the door, I smack his head.
"Hey! What the hell is that for?"
"You're an idiot." I inform him as I start down the hallway.
"Rory…"
"Just don't Logan." I tell him as I stop because I'm having another one. I'm trying to remember my breathing. "I can tell that it's real…this time. I'm in a lot of pain."
"Come on, it can't be that bad."
God, he's working my last nerve. I look around to make sure no one's around and no one is. It's a good thing there's no cameras in the hallway because they would have gotten to see an assault. I grab him…down there and I give him a nice hard tug.
"Ow!" He yelps. "Would you stop it?"
I let him go. "So how did that feel?"
"It hurt like hell."
"Yeah, I'm sure it did. Now imagine that happening every 7 minutes and maybe you'll get the type of pain I'm in."
"OK point taken."
By the time we get to the Palo Alto Hospital, it's 10:30. The contraction are at 6 ½ minutes now. Logan's called my parents and also Honor. He's having them spread the word from there. The doctor's been in once to check on me. She said that I'm at 4 centimeters. This is going to be a long day.
Logan's sitting beside me holding my hand trying to keep me calm. It's not working.
"You're going to be lucky if we ever have sex again." I warn him.
"Come on, Ace. I know you're not serious about that."
"Would you like to feel that pain again?" I ask.
"Hell no."
"Then don't voice your opinion. Right now it's irrelevant." I inform him.
The nurse comes in and gives me my epidural which I'm more than eager to take. It doesn't take long for it to kick in. I'm feeling pretty damn good now.
Logan's seeing me relax which prompts him to ask. "Are you feeling better?"
"How women are able to do this drug-free, I have no clue."
He grins. "How you're doing this at all, is beyond me."
I smirk. "Are we trying to suck up?"
"A little." He admits with a smile. "Is it working?"
"A little." I tell him. The phone then rings. "Hello?"
"Hi hun."
My eyes light up. "Mom!" I breathe a sigh of relief. "God, how the hell did you do this 2 times?"
"Easy. I spaced 23 years in between them." She jokes.
"It would be so much better if you were here, mom." I start crying. I know logistically why she can't be but it's still sad, you know?
"Aww, hun you know I would if I could. It's just tough right now with your brother. We'll be out soon though. Actually that's why I'm calling. I know it's nowhere near the same but Luke will be out."
"Really?" I'm a little stunned by that.
"Yeah, he is going to be on Logan's father's plane along with everyone else."
My eyes grow wide at the admission. "I'm sorry; he's going to be on whose plane?"
"Logan's dad." She repeats. It gets quiet for a few seconds and she then says. "I take it you didn't know about that."
"No, I didn't." I tell her. "I'm almost positive there's someone else who's unaware of this."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"I'm more worried about giving birth right now."
"Understood. So how are you feeling?" She asks.
"I'm better now that I'm in the hospital." I tell her as I glance over at my husband.
"I'm sorry, OK?" Logan exclaims. "I should have listened to you sooner."
"Thank you. Nice of you to admit that. Now if you could just remember that on a regular basis, that would be great."
He smirks. "Now that you're in labor, you just know it all, don't you?"
"Yes, I do."
I hang up with my mom a few minutes later. I slowly breathe in and out. I glance over at the machine next to me. It's keeping track of my heartbeat and the baby's too. It seems like the baby's heartbeat is really fast but the nurse assures me it's normal.
OK we're now 8 hours into this labor and still no baby. I'm up to 7 centimeters now. The doctor's encouraging words are to hang in there. I'm doing great but it could still be a little while. My question is, how long is a little while? That's way too vague for me.
"Are you doing OK?" Logan asks as he hands me a cup of ice chips.
"About as fine as I can be." I mumble as I eat a few of them.
I hear a knock on the door and tell them to come in. I see Honor open the door and I grin.
"Hey Rory!" She comes over to me and gives me a hug.
"Hey, Honor. How are you?" I smile.
"I'm fine. The question is how are you?"
"I'm doing OK. I just want this to be over already. It's been almost 9 hours."
"Ace, she'll come when she's ready." Logan tells me and I throw him a dirty look.
"Hey! What did I tell you about offering your opinion?"
"Apparently, your epidural is starting to wear off."
"Logan, shut up before I give you another taste of what this pain feels like."
"OK, OK, fine."
"What's going on?"
"Nothing." I tell her. "Your brother has already gotten an idea of just how much these contractions hurt. He was taking his dear sweet time getting me here."
"How many times do you want me to apologize?" He asks.
"Anyway, he didn't think they hurt that bad. He then got to suffer an equal kind of hurt."
Honor is quietly laughing.
"Honor!" Logan says.
"I'm sorry; you deserved that though." Honor reveals.
I then get to quickly visit with Luke and my dad, grandma and grandpa, and Finn, Colin and Steph.
"You look beautiful darling." Finn says.
"You're such a liar, Finn but thank you nonetheless."
"How are you doing, Rory?" Steph asks.
"I'm so tired. She just needs to come out already."
Logan starts to open his mouth but I decide to cover it.
"What's that all about?" Colin asks.
"Logan's not going to be offering opinions right now and if he does he gets to feel what childbirth feels like again."
"Again?" Finn raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah, he's already had it happen once."
"I'd keep your mouth shut, Logan. It keeps like a wise idea." Steph informs him.
"Thank you Steph."
It's now hour 14 and I'm finally dilated all 10 centimeters. I'm being wheeled off to the delivery room and Logan is changing into scrubs.
"You're doing great, Rory." My doctor tells me. "It won't be much longer and you're going to be a mommy."
I sigh as I slowly breathe in and out. Logan's back by me now. He's in blue scrubs.
"Ready to start pushing?" My doctor asks and my only thought is god yes. I slowly nod.
"Ok, go." Logan's holding my hand while I'm pushing and the doctor is slowly counting to 10. When she gets done, I sigh as I lean back and rest for a second. A second is about all I get because we start again. After another 10 seconds I let out another huge breath.
This goes on for another 15 minutes before the doctor can finally see her head. "You're almost done, Rory. I can see her. Now I really need you give me a really big push, OK?"
I nod. She starts counting again and I'm pushing as hard as I can until I start screaming. Logan is keeping hold of my hand and trying to encourage me.
"OK Rory, her head's out so I need one last push. One last big push and you're officially a mommy."
I nod and push as hard as I can. At about 6 seconds I see the doctor hold her up. Then I hear her cry. I start crying then too. Logan's crying too. I smile at him and he gives me a kiss.
"You did so awesome, Rory." He whisper in my ear. "I love you."
"Congratulations," Dr. Nathan tells us. "It's a girl." She then looks at Logan. "Logan, did you want to cut the cord?"
Logan quickly accepts this offer as I catch my breath. Wow! She's here. She's finally here.
A moment later, I see that Dr. Nathan has put a pink cap on her head and swaddled in a pink blanket. She is bringing her over to me. I eagerly take her in my arms and stare at her. She's so gorgeous. She's got the cutest little nose and the most perfect little lips. I can't believe how tiny she is. With the way she kicked, I figured she would be huge.
Logan sits back down next to me.
"How do you feel?" He looks at me then at her.
"I'm doing good." I smile at him. "How are you doing, dad?"
He's beaming at that comment. "Ace, I honestly couldn't be happier." He leans in and kisses me.
Yea, happy ending. The epilogue is going to be everyone in the room holding the baby and a webcam visit from Lorelai. I think it's fine to be able to do that in a hospital. I don't know. I'm going to write it that way though. Anyway, review please! I love them! I'll get the epilogue out within the next couple weeks mainly because I told the Gossip Girl fans I'd have that chapter out next week. I may still get both of them done within in a week but figure a couple weeks, OK? I just want to let you all know that you've been the most awesome reviewers ever. I was really scared to release this story at all for fear it wasn't any good. I appreciate everyone's opinions they gave me. One last chance to offer a title to anyone who hasn't offered one for the sequel. I have an idea and it is one of the reviewer's suggestions but I want to see if anyone else has opinions on what it should be. If you do let me know.