It was Saturday, the 7th, and Celeste and Jess had slept late, only checking their phones a few times in between - no change. While Jess had cooked them breakfast, some eggs and prepared a green smoothie, Celeste had taken upon herself the cancellation and reorganizing of Rory's party. She had canceled the original catering order, but as this late it had been non-refundable, she had simply told them to alter it enough so they could provide them with cold snacks instead, which she aimed to take over to the hospital on the 8th. Surely by then they'd have some news? Besides Jess knowing Lorelai and Rory's friends, they expected the crowd to start forming sooner rather than later and surely what the two of them could do for Rory and Logan was keep the sideline supporters engaged and fed, allowing Rory and Logan to focus on more important matters.

"Huh, as expected," Jess sighed, not being the slightest bit surprised, as he noted the private waiting room, already bustling with people. Lorelai and Emily were nervously pacing back and forth exchanging a few casual lines, Paris on the phone with someone, a frustrated glance upon her face, Lane with earphones on, knitting something light blue in the corner, her legs crossed on the seat and Finn asleep in another corner dressed in a tux, his bow tie hanging loosely around his neck.

"Who's that?" Celeste asked, as they observed the group through the corridor window momentarily before entering, having not seen Lane before.

"That's Lane, she's Rory's childhood friend from Stars Hollow," Jess explained quietly before they entered.

"Hey," Jess said, adding, "any news?" while Celeste, feeling slightly out of place being not quite the immediate family, especially after understanding Lorelai a little better from Jess' explanation of her, waved her hand in greeting hesitantly.

"Some progress, they're not telling us much," Lorelai whined, her arm crossed on her waist, biting her fingers, worriedly, looking like she'd been there all night.

"I'm sure they'll tell us if there is anything to tell," Emily sighed, Lorelai's nervousness getting on her nerves.

"Jess, can I have a word," Paris pulled him out to the corridor, as she got off the phone, Celeste following after them.

"They didn't want to give Lorelai all the details, so she wouldn't go barging in there, so I'm sort of like the filter in between. They're progressing extremely slow - 4 cm so far. They're not letting her eat anything in case they need to take her into surgery, so as you can imagine she's very grumpy and tired, and I don't think Logan has slept a wink either," Paris explained.

"Anything we can do?" Celeste offered.

"For one thing I think I might go try to get a second opinion, see if there are warning signs she might need that surgery or not, so they could make a better decision about her eating," Paris said. "The attending doctor was a little old school, but his shift just ended, so I'll go try to go find his replacement," she said.

"And us?" Celeste asked.

"Celeste, I think you should go be with Rory for a bit, and try to get Logan step out for some time, try to do a quick power nap in the second waiting room or something. He's going to need his strength too. I've seen this self-sacrificing behavior in men before, but he won't be of any use if he's a zombie in a few hours," Paris suggested.

"You go make sure Lorelai doesn't intervene, keep them busy, fed, caffeinated, whatever they need. Preferably don't tell her Logan is not there," Paris said to Jess, as she typed something into her phone.

"Alright," Jess sighed, knowing it was going to be a daunting task. He didn't exactly have the best track record with Emily Gilmore either.

"What room is she in?" Celeste asked.

"305," Paris replied, gesturing down the hall.

Celeste gave Jess' hand a gentle squeeze and continued down the hall towards Rory's room, already imagining how pissed Lorelai would be if she found out. But she didn't particularly care what she thought, this wasn't her day - it was Rory's.

"Hey," she said quietly, seeing Rory in a strange zoned out mode, on her side, on the bed. The room was dimly lit, the curtains drawn.

"She's resting between contractions," Logan explained, making a hush gesture with his finger. His eyes were bloodshot, hair scruffy and frankly he smelled. No wonder, if he'd been there since last night.

"Paris said she has a room for you so you could go and rest for a bit while she's getting a second opinion on the eating," Celeste explained.

"I really don't think I should leave," Logan argued, worriedly, glancing over Rory who had her eyes closed.

"Yeah, but you'll need your energy too. Just go for an half an hour, close your eyes, do some breathing exercises or something. Even if you can't sleep, that's better than nothing, and I'll come get you as soon as there's any news," Celeste assured.

Rory was clenching onto the railing as the next contraction hit, Logan watching her breathe through them, Rory not wanting him to touch her as they occurred. He had never felt as powerless than now, unable to help.

"You're doing great, Ace," he assured, his words feeling empty by now, having said it hundreds of times by now. "Celeste is going to stay with you for a bit, are you okay with that? I'm going to step out for a few minutes," Logan said, apologetically.

"Go!" Rory muttered, having heard him talking to Celeste before.

Logan kissed her forehead, her eyes already falling shut.

Celeste took a seat next to her, stroking her own belly as she felt mild kicks. Now she knew how fathers felt - useless. She checked her monitors while Rory seemed to doze off briefly. She noted the mother's heart beat, the baby's, making logical assumptions where the contractions were registering. She even timed a few of them - just under a minute in length, 6-7 minutes apart.

"Agh... I want this to be over… I'm so hungry," Rory pleaded after another contraction.

"Hey.. Paris went to ask just that, she said another doctor should be on call now, maybe he can tell you something new," Celeste assured.

Just as she'd said it, Paris stepped in wtih a pile of energy gel tubes in hand.

"No go on solids, but you can have these. They said they'd bring some jello later," Paris said, opening one of the gels and handing it to Rory, Rory accepting them with a grunt.

"Logan actually left?" Paris asked, noting his absence, sounding a little surprised.

"He looked really beat," Celeste commented.

"Yeah, he's going to need his energy too, just like you, Rory," Paris added assuringly.

Rory paused the eating, getting another contraction.

"That one was a little closer together, under five minutes apart I think," Celeste said, glancing at the time.

"Good, let's hope they pick up," Paris commented, getting a angry glance from Rory.

"Tell me something else, distract me! I don't want to think about it anymore," Rory demanded, as the contraction subsided, sucking onto another tube of gel.

"My baby kicked yesterday for the first time," Celeste shared smilingly.

"Aw...," Rory commented, endearingly.

"That's great," Paris commented.

"It happened just after we, ahem... got intimate," Celeste added, thinking it was a little funny how it had happened.

"Naughty!" Rory replied, with a chuckle. Laughing was a new sensation in this process, hurting a little.

"You never tapped that, did you?" Paris asked Rory jokingly.

"Paris!" Rory scolded her, glancing at Celeste apologetically. That whole dynamic had been weird, but they were past the weird.

"Hey, you wanted to have something else to think about!" Paris replied.

Celeste shrugged, adding, "Hey, your loss," laughingly, seeing what Paris was trying to do to distract her - clearly succeeding.

"Wait, you actually have a comparison here, don't you? So which one is better - Jess or Logan?" Paris continued, sounding genuinely curious, causing a momentary chorus of laughter, Rory's laughter subsiding into another contraction.


It was full 11 hours and 30 minutes later, and 5 tubes of energy gel and a green jello for Rory, Logan having gotten actually two full hours of poor-quality sleep in between - better than nothing. Jess had kept the waiting room fed and caffeinated, but his every attempt at conversations had resulted in Emily and Lorelai bickering about something, or bickering at him, hence he soon settled into keeping his mouth shut. It was fair to say, the crowd, now having changed from four women to two women, who refused to leave, and Luke having arrived. Lane had left to take care of her own boys, promising to be back tomorrow, Finn having gone home to change in between now looking significantly more solid than before. Nobody had expected it to take that long.

It was near midnight, and the hospital was otherwise quiet. While the rooms were soundproof, each time someone opened a room, grunts, humming and 'arhh'-s could be hear over the hallway. Whether they were Rory's or not only Paris knew, who stood guard at the door, having taken some control over things going smoothly as far as the personel's presence was concerned.

"It can't possibly take this long, poor Rory," Emily exclaimed, hiding a yawn.

Celeste was now sitting next to Jess, reading magazines, him browsing his phone, on the last end of it's battery.

"She's getting a birthday present," Lorelai noted, realizing the date. The clock had just passed midnight.

"You're right!" Emily exclaimed, surprisedly.

"We're bringing Rory's birthday food here tomorrow, around 12 PM," Jess shared, informing them of their celebration idea.

"That's nice of you," Emily commented. It was probably the first nice thing he'd heard from her ever.

It was fifteen minutes later when Paris stepped into the waiting room. "6 pounds and 2 ounces, 20 inches long, Apgar 8. The baby boy is healthy and mother is doing great, tired but happy," she announced.

"I want to see them," Lorelai expressed.

"Just for a minute," Paris said sternly, "Emily you can go too, but really, just a minute, she's exhausted," she said. The two were out of the waiting room within a split second, getting a quick glance from the distance in the delivery room.

"I'm going home. Make sure those two don't say more than a minute - I'm serious," Paris instructed Luke and Jess.

"Thanks, Paris," Luke said.

"Luke, you guys could come and stay with us, we have a spare room," Jess offered. He was clearly still frustrated with Lorelai, but not enough to not offer common courtesy to Luke, and he too was a package deal. And he didn't want them driving all the way back to Stars Hollow in the night.

"Thanks Jess," Luke said, getting Lorelai's jacket off one of the chairs along with his, adding, "Let's go get Lor, we all need some sleep," he added yawningly. He'd been up since 5 AM.

As they waited at the door, Logan stepped out momentarily, getting a round of congratulations from them. He looked more exhausted than anyone had ever seen him, his hands trembling a little but his face lit up like a christmas tree, despite the physical exhaustion. Thankfully the nurse kicked out the visitors in no time.

Lorelai fell asleep in the car to Brooklyn, Luke having to wake as they got there.

"The sheets are fresh and there are towels in the bathroom, in the linen cupboard by the sink, take any one you like," Celeste explained. She was exhausted too, the constant state of tension getting to her as well.

"Boy, that was a long day," Jess sighed, massaging Celeste's shoulders gently as she finished brushing her teeth.

"Yeah. But he looked really happy," Celeste commented, referring to Logan.

"Yeah," he sighed, as he kissed the top of her shoulder.