"It's Still There – part 16"
. . . . .
On Friday night, after the weekly dinner with the grandparents, Lorelai dropped Rory off at Lane's house, then parked the Jeep in front of the diner. She walked inside and gave a quick glance around for Luke, then assumed he was in the kitchen and walked to the counter to wait for him. Kirk was sitting a few stools away, writing diligently in a notebook.
"Hey, Kirk," Lorelai greeted him. "Writing in your diary?"
Kirk looked over at her. "What?"
Lorelai gestured to the notebook. "What are you doing?"
He glanced down at it. "Oh, I'm compiling a list of possible future money-making endeavors."
"Money-making endeavors, huh? How's it coming along?"
Kirk nodded affirmatively. "Pretty good." He tapped his pen against the counter for a few seconds, then asked, "Do you think it's possible to create some sort of chemical product to spray on snow to make it disappear?"
Lorelai gasped. "Why would you wanna do that to the poor defenseless snow?"
"Snow removal takes a lot of time, energy, and money," Kirk explained. "Anything that could let someone clean it up in a matter of minutes would be sure to bring in millions. That's why I think snow removal in a can would be an excellent idea if I could just figure out the secret formula to make things disappear."
Lorelai cocked her head. "Wait a second, didn't they do something like that in a movie once? It sounds familiar."
Kirk glanced down sheepishly. "I got the idea from Frosty Returns. It was on TV a few weeks ago."
Lorelai giggled. "You're stealing ideas from a cartoon?"
He frowned. "The idea had to originate from a real person, so maybe it is possible to create such a product."
Lorelai nodded seriously. "Yes, maybe it is. I wish you luck, Kirk. One thing – if you do invent it, don't use it on the snow around my house, okay? I want it to stay white and pretty all winter."
"I'll take your request into consideration." Kirk turned back to his notebook.
Lorelai leaned forward on the counter and called, "Luke, your wife is here, come talk to her!"
A few moments later, Luke walked out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a dishtowel, and he smiled when he saw her. "Hey."
Lorelai smiled. "Hey you." She kissed him over the counter, then sat down on a stool.
"How was dinner?"
"Pretty good. I showed my parents the ultrasound picture, and they were excited about it so it put 'em in a good mood for the rest of the night."
"Good."
"And they invited us over this Wednesday night for my dad's sixtieth birthday dinner," Lorelai informed him. "Can you make it?"
Luke shook his head. "I don't know yet."
Lorelai nodded. "I told them you might not be able to, so it's no big deal. Rory and I are going shopping tomorrow afternoon to get him a gift."
"Okay."
"How's your night been?" She glanced around. "Doesn't seem too busy."
"Yeah, it was earlier, but the last hour or so it's slowed down." He adjusted his baseball cap. "So, you know what I was thinking tonight?"
"Ooh, let me guess." Lorelai thought for a moment, then declared, "You wanna shave your head."
"No."
Lorelai let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, because I'd do everything in my power to talk you out of it."
Luke folded his arms across his chest. "Guessing again?"
"Yes. You wanna get a puppy."
"No."
"A puppy named Spot," she continued. "But you specifically want the puppy to have no spots just so that when you tell people his name, they can ask you why you'd name a puppy with no spots Spot, and then you can go into this rant about how it's none of their business what you call your puppy and that they should just mind their - "
"Lorelai," Luke interrupted, covering her mouth with his hand. "Stop talking."
She peeled his hand away and frowned. "Fine, I give up. What were you thinking?"
"That I should get a cell phone."
Lorelai's eyes widened and she smirked. "Are you serious?"
Luke nodded. "Yeah."
Lorelai stared at him with disbelief. "You, the leader of the anti-cell phone revolution? What, you decided that they're cool now and you wanna get one to be part of the cool crowd?"
Luke rolled his eyes. "No, it's for you. I was thinking with you being pregnant, it might be good to have one for emergencies."
"Oh."
Luke shrugged. "I mean, I'm here working most of the time, but you never know. . .I could be out somewhere when you need to get a hold of me, so . . ."
Lorelai nodded understandably. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I can just get another phone added onto the family plan Rory and I have already. It shouldn't be any trouble."
"Okay, good."
They talked for a few more minutes, then Lorelai yawned and stood up. "I'm gonna head home."
"Okay." He walked her to the door. "See ya in a few hours, if you're still up."
"I probably won't be, I'm pretty tired." Lorelai kissed him goodbye. "Goodnight."
"Night." He held the door open and watched her walk out to the jeep before heading back to the kitchen.
. . . . .
On Wednesday night, Lorelai and Rory pulled up to the Gilmore mansion and noticed an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. As they walked to the front door, Rory asked, "Did they get a new car?"
"I don't know," Lorelai replied with a shrug. "Maybe."
They rang the doorbell, and a few moments later, Emily answered the door.
"Hi, Mom," Lorelai greeted her.
"Hey Grandma," Rory said.
Emily sighed loudly as she stepped back to let them in. They walked into the house sharing a confused look. "Uh, is everything okay, Mom?" Lorelai asked.
With pursed lips and a pained expression on her face, Emily whispered, "She's here."
"Who?" Lorelai whispered back.
"Your grandmother," Emily hissed through clenched teeth.
Lorelai's eyes widened. "Gran?"
"Yes."
"She's here right now?" Rory asked.
"Yes, she just showed up a few minutes ago with absolutely no prior notice to us whatsoever," Emily complained. "What kind of person flies in from another country to see us without so much as a phone call first?"
"A fugitive," Lorelai suggested.
"Or someone who's trying to drive me crazy," Emily retorted. "I can't believe that woman."
"Emily, what's taking so long?" Richard called from the living room. "Are the girls here?"
"Yes. Uh, we're just getting their coats hung up," Emily called back. She gestured toward the hat rack and they hung their coats up. Emily took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go." Lorelai and Rory, clutching Richard's birthday presents, followed Emily to the living room.
Richard and his mother sat talking on the couch, and they both looked up when the other three walked in. Lorelai and Rory wished Richard a happy birthday.
"Thank you, girls," he replied. "Look who's here."
"What a surprise," Lorelai said. "Hi Gran."
"Hi Gran," Rory echoed. "Good to see you."
"Hello girls," Trix greeted them. She glanced at Emily and sighed. "Emily, I thought you were fetching me some iced tea."
"The maid is getting it, Mom," Emily replied with forced cheerfulness.
"Perhaps you should look into getting a maid who doesn't let your guests dehydrate," Trix suggested.
"I'll go see what's taking so long," Emily muttered, then turned and left the room.
"Girls, please sit down," Richard said, gesturing to the sofa across from him. Lorelai and Rory set Richard's presents on the coffee table before sitting.
"So, Lorelai, I do believe this is the first time I've seen you since you've settled down," Trix commented.
Lorelai smiled and showed off her wedding ring. "That's right. Thank you so much for the gift you sent. Did you get my thank you card?"
"Yes, I did, thank you," Trix replied. She looked Lorelai up and down. "You look different as a married woman. . .more mature."
"Yes, I figured 34 was a good age to finally let some maturity show through," Lorelai said.
Emily returned to the room with a glass of iced tea and set it in front of Trix. "Here we go."
Trix waved it off. "Too late. I'm not thirsty anymore." Emily exhaled softly with annoyance as she took her seat in the armchair. Lorelai and Rory looked on sympathetically.
"Tell me, Lorelai, what does your husband do?" Trix asked.
"He owns a diner in Stars Hollow," Lorelai replied. "That's where he is tonight, working."
"Yes, Luke runs a fine business," Richard commented. "It keeps him very busy."
"Well, that's nice, but I hope he also sees his family enough," Trix commented. "One of the problems in many marriages today is an overworking husband who doesn't spend enough time at home."
"Oh, he spends plenty of time at home, don't worry," Lorelai assured her.
"Yeah, we see him all the time," Rory added. "They're completely obsessed with each other so they're never apart for too long."
"Well, that's good to hear, then," Trix said. "I'd like to meet him. Perhaps we could get together on Saturday for lunch."
"Oh, actually, we'll be in New York," Lorelai said. "Luke got me theater tickets for Christmas for a musical called Urinetown, and they're for Saturday afternoon."
"Urinetown?" Trix frowned at the name, then glanced at Emily. "Emily, you're allowing your daughter and granddaughter to see a play about a bodily fluid?"
"I'm just as surprised as you are," Emily replied, wrinkling her nose. "Why would you want to see a play like that, Lorelai?"
"Because it's supposed to be funny," Lorelai replied. "And I'm always up for something that'll make me laugh, as I know you always are, Mom."
"Yes, laughter's my middle name," Emily muttered.
"Well, we'll just have to get together another time," Trix concluded.
Richard cleared his throat and patted his mother on the arm. "I believe Lorelai has some other news she'd like to share with you, Trix." He gestured for Lorelai to continue.
Lorelai smiled and patted her stomach. "Luke and I are expecting a baby, Gran."
Trix's eyes widened. "A baby?"
"That's right. It's due in July," Lorelai said.
"My, my. You certainly didn't waste any time, did you," Trix remarked.
Lorelai shook her head. "No, we didn't. We're all very excited about it."
"Well, how nice." Trix smiled. "I offer you my congratulations."
Lorelai thanked her, and the five of them continued talking in the living room for a few minutes before they moved to the dining room for dinner.
. . . . .
A few hours later, Lorelai and Rory walked out of the house and climbed into the Jeep.
"That was quite a night," Rory commented.
Lorelai nodded in agreement. "I think the look on my mom's face when Gran said she was moving back to Hartford will be forever imprinted in my memory."
Rory frowned. "Poor Grandma, she looked so shocked. And it didn't help that Gran was picking on her all night long."
"I know."
"Don't think I didn't notice you constantly smiling to yourself," Rory scolded her. "You're like the queen of the kingdom of schadenfreude."
Lorelai giggled as she started the car. "Hey, it was nice seeing someone else uncomfortable at dinner for a change. I was able to just sit back and enjoy the show."
"They don't pick on you as much as they used to anyway," Rory pointed out. "You guys get along pretty well most of the time."
"Yeah, that's true," Lorelai agreed. "It's kind of nice." She pulled out of the driveway and headed back to Stars Hollow.
. . . . .
On Saturday morning, Lorelai went through her closet to find an outfit to wear to the show. She laid out a bunch of possibilities on the bed, and was staring down at them all when Luke walked in from the bathroom. "Lorelai, come on, get dressed."
Lorelai frowned. "I don't know what to wear."
"I told you to pick out an outfit last night."
"I was too tired." She sighed and sat down on the bed. "This would be easier if we were staying overnight because now I have to find something that not only looks good, but also will be comfortable enough for the car ride."
"I told you, it's a waste of money to stay overnight," Luke reminded her. "If it was a nighttime show, then yes, but not for a matinee. We'll go, see the play, have dinner, and then we'll have plenty of time to drive home. There's no reason to stay overnight."
Lorelai gasped. "What about shopping? We can't take a day trip to New York without going shopping. It's illegal. I won't allow it."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll do a little shopping. But I stress a little."
"Thank you." She eyed his black suit pants and black sweater. "And I stress that you look sexy."
"Thanks." He slipped on his shoes and sat down on the bed. "Is Rory ready?"
"I don't know, probably. She's always ready on time. She didn't get that from me." Lorelai chose an outfit from the bed and started changing. "She told Dean to meet us here at ten. What time is it?"
Luke checked the clock. "Quarter of." He was quiet for a moment as he watched Lorelai get changed. "They've been together a couple years, right?"
"Yeah, about."
Luke gave an impressed nod. "That's a long time for their age."
"That's a long time for any age," she corrected him. "It's almost three times as long as we've been together and we're already married."
"Well, it's different with us."
Lorelai smiled. "You mean because we had years of built-up sexual tension behind us that propelled our relationship along at the speed of light?"
"Yeah, and they don't have that at all."
Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean by that?"
Luke shrugged. "They just don't seem to have a big physical attraction. They act more like close friends than boyfriend/girlfriend."
"Just because they're not making out every time we see them doesn't mean they're not attracted to each other," Lorelai pointed out. "I mean, who knows what they do when we're not around." She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Okay, that is so not something I wanna be thinking about."
"I'm sure you've thought about it before," Luke said, then added, "I mean, in a concerned 'I hope my daughter's making the right choices' kind of way."
"Yeah, occasionally. . ." Lorelai shrugged. "But I don't worry about it too much because I'm pretty sure that if she was seriously considering having sex, she would talk to me about it first."
Luke nodded. "That's good, or else you'd be going crazy thinking about it."
"Yeah." Lorelai zipped up the side of her skirt, then sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Okay, new subject please. I don't wanna have thoughts of my daughter's sexuality in my head for the rest of the day. Hurry up and say something else."
"Uh. . ." Luke wracked his brain for something to talk about. "Oh, next weekend."
Lorelai sat in the armchair and started pulling on a pair of boots. "What's next weekend?"
"The Super Bowl," Luke replied. "I usually go over John's house and watch it with a bunch of the guys, so I won't be around next Sunday."
Lorelai smiled. "Aw, how cute, male bonding. You're gonna come home all pumped up with testosterone, huh?"
"Possibly."
She stood up to button her shirt. "Good. You're fun when you're like that."
"How so?"
"Sometimes after you do something manly, you get this attitude that's all. . ." Lorelai deepened her voice. "'I'm a man. I'm the ruler of the house. My woman will do whatever I say.'"
Luke rolled his eyes. "First of all, I don't get like that, and second of all, why would you think it's fun for a guy to act like that?"
"For the same reason I like it when you pin me up against the wall and kiss me," she replied. "Sometimes it's sexy when a guy gets a little bossy, a little overpowering. Not all the time, naturally, because then it just gets annoying and creepy and scary. But once in awhile can be fun."
"Oh yeah?" Luke had a smirk on his face as he walked over to her.
"Yeah."
He backed her up against the dresser. "Like this?" He took her hands and pinned them behind her back, then kissed her passionately.
Lorelai smiled. "Exactly like that." She pressed her lips against his and kissed him again, then giggled and turned her head away. "Okay, stop, you're making me all tingly and now's not the time." He immediately retreated back to the bed and watched her finish getting ready.
As she was touching up her makeup, they heard the doorbell ring, and Luke glanced at the clock. "That's probably Dean."
"Always the punctual one," Lorelai commented.
Luke grabbed his wallet and his watch from the dresser. "You just about ready?"
"Almost."
"Hurry up. We're leaving in two minutes, with or without you."
"Yeah, yeah." Lorelai stuck her tongue out at him and waved him off.
Luke walked downstairs, and Rory and Dean were talking on the couch. He nodded toward Dean. "Hey."
"Hey," Dean replied.
"Is Mom almost ready?" Rory asked.
Luke shrugged. "She says she is, but I've learned not to believe her when she says that."
"Thanks for inviting me to come," Dean said sincerely.
"It's good that you're going," Luke said. "I'll have someone to talk to when the girls are shopping."
Rory's eyes lit up. "Ooh, we're going shopping?"
"I think your mom might try to divorce me if I bring her home from New York without letting her shop," Luke said.
"That's right," Lorelai said as she walked down the stairs. "I'd call the lawyer from the car and have those papers ready to sign the minute we got home. Hey Dean."
"Hey," he replied.
"Everybody ready?" Lorelai asked.
"Yup," Luke replied. "Let's go."
. . . . .
Later that afternoon, the four of them exited The Henry Miller Theater in New York talking about how they enjoyed the show. They contemplated getting an early dinner, but the girls talked the guys into doing some shopping first.
They took a cab to Saks Fifth Avenue, and after looking around for only a few minutes, Luke took Lorelai by the arm and led her out of the store. Rory and Dean followed them outside.
Once on the sidewalk, Lorelai scoffed. "Come on, I wasn't done looking around."
"The cheapest thing I saw in there was an umbrella, and that was 90 dollars," Luke informed her. "I don't even wanna know how much the clothes cost. Forget it, you're not getting anything from here."
Lorelai frowned. "Mean."
"Everything was pretty expensive, Mom," Rory pointed out.
"Yes, well, I think I deserve something expensive," Lorelai retorted. "Let's go to Tiffany."
"I'm not taking out a loan just so you can get a pair of earrings," Luke said.
"I don't want earrings, I want a bracelet."
"You have enough bracelets."
"But none from Tiffany."
"Nobody cares where they're from. Who are you trying to impress?"
"My boyfriend." Lorelai slipped her arm through Dean's. "I'm sorry to break it to you guys like this, but Dean and I are secretly dating."
Dean's eyes widened and he pulled away from Lorelai. "Uh, we're not. . .that's not true. She's kidding. Tell them you're kidding."
Lorelai rolled her eyes and patted him on the arm. "Calm down there, Skippy. They're not fools."
"Let's go somewhere else, like Bloomingdale's or Macy's or something," Rory suggested, then shivered in the cold air. "And fast, it's freezing out here."
"All right, we'll hit one or two more stores, then we'll go get some dinner," Luke said.
. . . . .
A few hours later, they were on their way home from New York. In the front of the truck, Luke was concentrating on driving while a bored Lorelai stared out the side window, and in the back, Rory and Dean were talking about the musical.
Lorelai pulled her cell phone out of her purse. "I think I'm gonna call Sookie, see what she's up to." She dialed the number, and after a few rings, Sookie answered. "Hey, Sookie, it's me."
"Hey. Are you guys back from New York?"
"Not yet, we're in the car on our way home," Lorelai replied.
"How was the play? Or show or musical, whatever it was."
"Hm, I'd classify it as a musical," Lorelai said. "It was good, everyone really liked it. Afterwards we went shopping, and my husband Mr. Penny Pincher here was so astounded by the price tag on the dress I really, really wanted from Macy's that he could not see how perfect an article of clothing it was." She frowned at Luke.
Luke rolled his eyes. "You're not spending three hundred dollars on a dress that you'll probably only be able to wear for another week or so. That makes no sense at all, Lorelai."
Sookie overheard him in the background. "He makes a pretty good point, honey."
Lorelai sighed. "I know, but it was such a pretty dress."
"Did you get something else instead?"
"Yeah, I got a couple smaller things," Lorelai replied. "A hat, a scarf, perfume, a purse."
"All of which were way overpriced," Luke muttered.
Lorelai waved him off. "Shh, I'm talking to Sookie. Focus on the road. What did you do today, Sook?"
"Oh, Jackson and I went to this soup cook-off in Millbrook."
"Ooh, did you enter? You make great soup"
"No, we just found out about it this morning, so we just went to watch," Sookie explained. "It was broken up into categories, like chicken soups, vegetable soups, creamed soups, stuff like that, so of course, Jackson was hovering over all the vegetable soup makers trying to find out where they get their vegetables."
"The man does enjoy talking about produce," Lorelai commented.
"Yes, he does. So we were there for a few hours, then we came home, did some stuff around the house, went to the market, ate dinner, and here we are."
"What are you doing now?"
"Watching tv," Sookie replied.
"Aw, all snuggled up on the couch, I bet."
"Yup, drinking hot chocolate."
"Sounds cute," Lorelai said. "I'll let you go, then. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Okay, have a safe rest of the ride home."
"We will. Bye."
"Bye."
Lorelai hung up the phone and dropped it back into her purse. Luke and Dean were now in a conversation about football, and Lorelai turned to Rory. "Luke's going over to John's next week to watch the Super Bowl, so we should do something girly while he's not home."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, have a really girly movie marathon or something," Lorelai suggested. "No movie allowed that doesn't make us cry for at least ten solid minutes."
Luke heard her and glanced over. "Oh, that's just what I need, to come home to two hysterically sobbing girls."
"We won't be sobbing when you get home," Lorelai promised. "By that time, we'll probably be watching the new Alias that comes on after the game."
"Oh, geez. If I see that commercial one more time, I think my head's gonna explode," Rory said, rolling her eyes.
Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too. They're really overdoing it, but I still wanna watch it."
"The game's pretty long, so the show might not be on until late," Luke told them. "You might have to tape it and watch it the next day."
Lorelai shrugged. "I'll take a nap during the day so I can stay up."
Luke and Dean resumed their sports talk, and Lorelai and Rory started discussing movies to rent for next week.
. . . . .
On the Monday morning after the Super Bowl, Lorelai walked downstairs and headed to the kitchen. Rory, dressed in her school uniform, was sitting at the table sipping coffee, and Luke was making pancakes at the stove.
Lorelai paused at the doorway. "Okay, tell me the truth. . ." Luke and Rory both looked over at her. "Are you two really Rory and Luke, or did someone use a special device to duplicate your DNA and create doubles of you? Am I'm gonna find the real Rory and Luke's bodies out back with bullet holes in their heads?"
Rory smiled. "Guess you'll have to wait and see."
Lorelai sat down at the table. "Poor Francie."
"Didn't see that coming," Rory commented.
Lorelai yawned loudly. "I can't believe how late it was on. I'm surprised I made it through the whole thing."
"Well, it's not like you could fall asleep during an episode like that," Rory said. "There was too much going on."
They talked about it for a few minutes until Luke brought a plate of pancakes to the table. "Okay, you guys do realize that it's just a television show, right?"
Lorelai frowned. "What's your point? We like television shows."
Luke retrieved three plates and some silverware, then sat down at the table and passed them out. "Well, maybe our breakfast conversation could be about something a little more important than a tv show."
"Fine, what does the man of the house wanna talk about?" Lorelai asked as she took some pancakes from the serving plate.
Luke shrugged. "I don't know. . .anything."
Lorelai thought for a moment. "Okay, here's a hypothetical scenario for us to discuss. Let's say we get into some sort of financial trouble and we need money really badly, and one day I'm strolling past the gazebo and Hugh Hefner stops me and asks me to pose for Playboy. Now, of course, this would have to be at a time after I've had the baby and have lost all the weight and am back to my gorgeous perfect self. So, the question is. . .should I pose nude for some quick money?"
Rory groaned and made a face. "Okay, this is just way too disturbing a scenario for a girl to hear her mother talk about."
"Seriously, where do you come up with this stuff?" Luke asked.
"Hey, you couldn't think of something to talk about, so I had to," Lorelai said with a shrug.
"And since when does Hugh Hefner come to Stars Hollow?" Rory asked.
"Hi, hypothetical scenario," Lorelai reminded her.
"Yeah, but that's really hypothetical."
Lorelai snickered. "There aren't different phases of hypothetical scenarios. Something can't be really hypothetical – it's either hypothetical or it's not."
Rory held up her hands innocently. "Well, either way, I'm staying out of it."
Lorelai turned to Luke. "Okay, it's up to you. . .should I pose? What do you think?"
Luke gestured between her and Rory. "I think you two should go back to talking about the television show."
"Aren't you too old for something like that anyway?" Rory asked. "I think they try to stick with younger girls in those magazines. You know, ones in their twenties."
Lorelai scoffed. "Okay, weren't you staying out of it?"
"I'm just saying," Rory said with a shrug. "Even more evidence that it's really hypothetical."
Lorelai ignored her and turned to Luke. "No, really, how would you feel about something like that?"
"How do you think I'd feel?" Luke asked. "You really think that I'd want millions of other men to see my wife naked? I don't think so."
"Well, it'd give you something to brag about. You could pull out the magazine at the store or something and show it to random people and be like, 'Hey, that's my wife. She looks good, huh?'" Lorelai smiled and patted him on the arm. "That'd be fun, right?"
Luke stared at her for a second like she was crazy, then turned to Rory. "So, what's going on at school today?"
. . . . .
They ate breakfast, and after Rory left for school, Lorelai and Luke remained at the table talking. After a lull in the conversation, Lorelai asked, "What do you want the baby to be?"
Luke was surprised by the question. "What?"
"Boy or girl? It just occurred to me that we haven't really talked about it, and inquiring minds want to know. . .what do you want?"
"What do you want?" he countered.
"I asked you first."
Luke pushed the leftover food around his plate with his fork. "I don't want anything."
"Uh, well, it's a little late for that," Lorelai said, patting her stomach. "You're getting something whether you want it or not."
"No, I mean, I don't want one sex more than the other," Luke explained. "You know, boy, girl, I'm gonna be excited either way." He reached over and stroked her hand. "I mean. . .it's our kid, it's someone we created together, so it's gonna make me happy no matter what it is."
Lorelai leaned across the table to kiss him. "You do realize that you're the greatest man in the world, right?"
Luke shrugged. "That's what I've heard, but I'm too humble to acknowledge it myself."
Lorelai smiled and kissed him again. "Good."
"So, what do you want it to be?"
"I'm with you on the no-preference thing, hon. Boy or girl, it's gonna be amazing either way." She carried their plates over to the sink, then walked back over to him and stroked his hair. "So, do you wanna find out ahead of time or wait until it's born?"
Luke shrugged. "I don't know."
"It doesn't really matter to me," Lorelai said. "It might be good to find out now, that way we can be more prepared. We can buy stuff for that sex instead of having to buy unisex stuff."
"Don't you wanna be surprised?"
"Well, we're gonna be surprised whether we find out now or later," Lorelai replied. "It's just a matter of if we want to prolong the surprise or not."
Luke was quiet for a moment as Lorelai rubbed his shoulders. Finally, he said, "I think that prolonging it. . .wouldn't be so bad."
"Really? You don't wanna find out now?"
"Nah, I think we should wait it out."
"Okay, we'll wait it out then," Lorelai agreed. "We have to start thinking of names. We should start going through that book Sookie gave us."
"It's the end of January," he pointed out. "We have until July to decide."
"Yeah, but it might take a while for us to agree."
"It won't take six months. We'll do names when you're further along." Luke took a final sip of his juice, then stood up. "I gotta get to work." Lorelai followed him to the front door and watched while he pulled on his coat. He grabbed his keys from the table, then kissed her goodbye before leaving for the diner.
. . . . .
A few weeks passed, and Lorelai's pregnancy was becoming slightly more apparent to the outside world. They went to her third doctor's appointment in mid-February and the scale indicated that she had gained another five pounds. Normal for how far along she was, the doctor told them. She had gone out and bought some maternity clothes that she wasn't quite fitting into yet, but it wouldn't be long before she was.
The last Friday in February, Lorelai and Rory were in Hartford for dinner with the grandparents. The four of them sat talking at the dinner table when they were interrupted by the faint ringing of a cell phone.
Lorelai jumped up. "That's mine."
Emily sighed. "Lorelai, I've asked you to turn that off at dinner. We're eating. Just let it ring."
"But it might be Luke wanting to check in on his pregnant wife, and he might worry if I don't answer." She rushed to the coat rack in the front hall and pulled her cell phone from her purse. "Hello?"
"Hi, it's me!" a bubbly voice greeted her.
Lorelai was surprised to hear Sookie on the other end of the phone. "Sookie, hey." She glanced toward the dining room and lowered her voice. "Uh, can I call you back later? I'm having dinner with my parents right now."
"I know, I'm sorry to bother you," Sookie said quickly. "But I wanted to tell you something and I couldn't wait any longer."
"Sure, what's going on?"
Sookie giggled excitedly. "I think we're pregnant at the same time!"
Lorelai's eyes widened. "What?"
"I think I'm pregnant!"
Lorelai gasped. "You think? When are you gonna find out?"
"We're on our way to the doctor right now. I called them up, thinking I would make an appointment for next week, but they had an opening tonight." Sookie squealed. "Wouldn't that be so amazing, the two of us pregnant at the same time?"
They talked for a minute, and Lorelai could see Emily giving her looks from the dining room. "Look, I have to go, but I'm gonna call you as soon as dinner's over to see how it went, okay?"
"Okay."
"Good luck!"
"Thanks. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye." Lorelai hung up her phone and returned to the dining room. "Sorry, that was Sookie. She had to talk to me about something real quick."
"Is everything okay?" Rory asked.
Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Oh, yeah, everything's great." She gave Rory an 'I'll tell you later' look and resumed eating her dinner.
. . . . .
To be continued. . .
