"It's Still There – part 20"
. . . . .
On Saturday afternoon, while Luke and his friends were in the back yard working on the porch, Lorelai and Rory were upstairs in the bedroom. Lorelai was relaxing on the bed while Rory hung up some clothes in the closet.
"Thanks for doing that, hon," Lorelai said.
"No problem," Rory replied. "You should stay off your feet."
Lorelai glanced around the room. "You know, I never realized how girly this wallpaper is. You think Luke and his macho-ness are harboring a secret grudge against it?"
Rory hung up the skirt she was holding, then glanced around at the walls. "Nah, I don't think guys really care about wallpaper. Plus, you have so much furniture along the walls that you can't really see much of it anyway."
"This room could definitely use a makeover," Lorelai remarked. "We could put new wallpaper up, rearrange the furniture, or maybe get some new stuff." She patted the bed. "Could definitely use a new mattress. I'll have to talk to Luke about it, see what he thinks."
Rory hung up the last two shirts, then sat down on the foot of the bed. "I think maybe you should wait off on that."
"Why? We have the money to do it, and there's no time like the present to spend money."
"Because the way Luke's been working himself lately, he's gonna end up having a heart attack soon," Rory told her. "I mean, he works 6 days a week at the diner, then he busts his butt working on the laundry room in almost all of his spare time, and then when that's done, he'll have to work on getting the nursery all fixed up. Adding another room-makeover to his to do list might be a bit much for him, don't you think?"
Lorelai frowned. "Now you're making me feel guilty about him working so hard."
"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," Rory assured her. "I'm just saying that you should wait for him to finish up the projects he's working on before you start handing him more to do." She crawled up the bed and lay down next to Lorelai.
Lorelai patted Rory on the head. "Always the voice of reason."
"Someone in the family has to be." They were quiet for a moment, and then Rory let out a sigh. "I can't believe it's May already."
"I know. A few weeks from now you'll be driving yourself insane studying for finals, and then soon after you'll officially be a high school graduate."
"Senior year went by a lot faster than I thought it would," Rory remarked.
"The past eighteen years went by a lot faster than I thought they would," Lorelai added. "But you know what they say. . .time flies when you're a young attractive working mother raising the best kid in the world."
"Yeah, that's what I've heard." They lay on the bed talking for a few minutes, and then Rory sat up to look at the clock. "Oh, I gotta go meet Lane."
"What are you girls up to? Gonna see a movie?"
Rory climbed off the bed. "Uh, no. . .we're just gonna hang out for a while, probably listen to music or something. I'll be back in a few hours."
"Mmkay."
"Do you need me to get you anything before I leave? A drink or something?"
"No, thanks. I think I'm just gonna rest up here for awhile, try to take a nap through all the hammering."
"Okay." Rory leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "Bye."
"Bye, hon."
Rory walked down the steps, grabbed her purse from the living room, then walked out the front door and headed to the backyard
When Luke saw her, he walked over to her. "You're leaving now?"
"Yup."
"Which place are you and Lane going to?"
Rory quickly glanced at the upstairs window to make sure Lorelai wasn't watching or listening. "That big party store in Hartford," she replied quietly. "They have the best selection of decorations."
Luke pulled out his wallet and handed her some bills. "Spend as much as you need."
Rory smiled as she slipped the money into her purse "Words I love to hear."
"And I'll try to keep her home," Luke said. "That way there's no chance she'll see you bringing the bags back to Lane's house. Just make sure you keep an eye out for Sookie, too."
"I will," Rory assured him. "Bye." She started to walk toward her car, then glanced back at Luke. "Hm. You think Mom'll be suspicious that I took the car to go to Lane's house?"
Luke shrugged. "She might. You never take it."
Rory thought for a minute, then decided, "I'll run upstairs and tell her that I talked to Lane and she found some CD store in another town that she wants to go to."
"That'll work."
"Okay, good. See ya later." Rory headed back into the house.
. . . . .
Almost an hour later, after the guys had gone home, Luke walked upstairs to take a shower. He stopped in the bedroom to get a change of clothes and found Lorelai lying on the bed. "Hey."
"Hi." She rolled from her side onto her back. "The noise stopped. Did the guys leave?"
"Yup, we're done for today. What're you doing?"
"Just resting. And thinking."
Luke climbed on the bed and lay next to her, propping himself up on his elbow. "About what?"
Lorelai shrugged. "About you. About Rory. About the baby. About my parents. . ."
"Ah, serious thinking. . ." Luke interjected.
"About why they won't let the Trix rabbit have some of that damn cereal."
Luke rolled his eyes. "I spoke too soon."
Lorelai frowned. "I feel so sorry for him. I mean, it's his cereal, he's on the box – he should be able to have as much as he wants."
"Maybe the last commercial ever will be him eating a bowl on his death bed."
Lorelai smiled. "Oh, that'll be cheery for the kids to see."
"Yup." He kissed her shoulder and stroked her arm. "What do you wanna do tonight?"
Lorelai groaned and put both of her hands on her stomach. "Push this baby out of me so I can get my figure back."
"Good luck with that."
"Thank you. What do you wanna do?"
"I don't know." Luke slowly traced the neckline of her tank top with his finger. "Count the number of freckles on your body?"
Lorelai smiled. "You've tried that before. I think you got to thirty-five before you completely gave up and turned it into foreplay."
He ran his hand over the freckles on her upper chest. "I'll try to get to thirty-six next time then." He kissed her, then leaned down to talk to her stomach. "Hi, baby. What have you been up to today?"
"It had hiccups a little while ago," Lorelai said with a smile. "I could feel 'em."
Luke glanced up at her with wide eyes. "Really? You should've called me."
"They didn't last very long," Lorelai said. "By the time you got up here, they would've been over."
"Oh, maybe next time." Luke kissed her stomach, then climbed off the bed and walked over to his dresser. He rummaged through the drawers and pulled out some clothes, then walked to the foot of the bed. "I'm gonna take a quick shower. When I'm done, maybe we can watch a movie or something."
Lorelai nodded. "Okay."
"And then I'll make us something for dinner," Luke suggested. "We can spend the night in."
"Sounds good. I'll be waiting in here, doing some more thinking about cereal."
Luke smiled. "I'll be fast." He headed toward the bathroom to take a shower.
. . . . .
The following Saturday was the grand opening of Taylor's soda shop, and Lorelai and Rory were taking in the festivities. They bought ice cream sodas and wandered out onto the sidewalk to listen to the live band perform, and soon, Lorelai saw Sookie walking toward them.
"Hey girlie," Lorelai greeted her. "Just get here?"
"Yeah, someone was very determined to keep me in the bathroom all day," Sookie replied, patting her stomach. "But I prevailed."
"Good thing. You don't wanna let that fetus run your life now or else the kid'll never listen to you when it comes out."
"Exactly." Sookie gestured to their drinks. "How are they?"
"Excellent," Lorelai replied, and Rory nodded in agreement. "Do you wanna get one? I'll wait in line with you, and by the time we get to the front, I'll be ready for a second one."
"Okay."
"You want another one, hon?" Lorelai asked Rory.
Rory shook her head. "No, thanks. I think I'm gonna go try to find Lane over there." She gestured to the crowd surrounding the gazebo. "I think I saw her a second ago."
"Okay." Lorelai and Sookie walked into the soda shop and stood at the end of the long line. "So where's Jackson?"
"He was on the phone and I didn't feel like waiting for him anymore," Sookie replied. "He's gonna meet me here when he's done. Where's Luke?"
"Diner."
"Not working on the construction?"
"No, they took the day off because Luke had to work," Lorelai replied. "But Luke said he's thinking of hiring professionals to finish the rest of it anyway. It's starting to be a lot of work for 'em, so he's gonna talk to Tom about it. He's the best construction guy in town."
"Yes, he is," Sookie agreed. "What'd you guys do last night?"
"Me and Tom?" Lorelai asked. "Oh, the usual. . .played with his screwdriver."
Sookie giggled. "Okay, the image that conjures up is seriously disturbing."
Lorelai smiled. "Sorry, changing the subject now. Rory and I went to Friday night dinner, and then when we got home, Luke and I went over some more baby names."
"Come up with anything new?"
"We threw out a bunch of new girl names, but none of them were keepers," Lorelai replied. "I think we're still leaning towards Katelyn. We did add some more boys' names to the consideration pile, though. . . Evan, Austin, and Trevor."
"Ooh, those are nice," Sookie commented.
"Yeah, but the boy list is getting so long now," Lorelai said. "We keep finding cool names that we both like. I think we'll have to start eliminating some soon."
Meanwhile, outside by the gazebo, Rory was talking to Miss Patty about the baby shower when Jackson walked over. They greeted him, then Patty told him, "I was just telling Rory about this friend of mine who plans parties for a living, and she's available next weekend to help out if we want her. She has a bunch of baby shower games she could set up for us and they sound really cute. She said there's this one game you play with rolled-up diapers. . ."
Jackson made a face. "Dirty ones?"
"No, just regular clean ones rolled up tight," Patty explained. "You throw them at some sort of target, but I can't remember what it is. And there's also baby bottle bowling, and some game with beanbags shaped like cookies. . .lots of cute things like that."
"I was just telling her that I'd have to check with you and Luke first," Rory said. "But I think it sounds like a good idea. It'll make things more fun, like a little baby shower carnival."
"Yeah, that does sound good," Jackson said. "How much will it cost?"
"I'm not positive, but I'm sure she'd give us a discount," Patty replied.
"I'll go talk to Luke about it," Rory said. "And I have to see if he remembered to order the balloons, too." She headed toward the diner and walked inside. It was empty, as most of the town was at the grand opening celebration.
Luke was at the counter going through some receipts, and he looked up when the door opened. "Hey."
"Hey." Rory walked to the counter and sat down on a stool. "Is anyone. . ." She gestured toward the back.
"Nope, no one's here except the cook," Luke said. "What's up?"
"Did you order the balloons?" she asked, and he nodded. "Okay, good." She explained to him about Patty's friend and the carnival-like games, and after some concern about them being too childish, Rory convinced him that Lorelai would love them.
"I'll talk to Patty about it sometime today and find out how much it'll cost. . ." Luke glanced toward the door and his eyes widened. "Oh, shh, quiet."
Rory turned around just as Lorelai walked into the diner. "There you are, sweets. What are you doing in here?"
"Mom, hi. . ." Rory shifted uncomfortably on the stool, then jumped off it. "Oh, I was just. . .uh. . .seeing if Luke wanted me to bring him anything from the soda shop. I saw that they had frozen yogurt, and I know Luke likes that, so. . ."
Lorelai smiled. "Aw, that was nice of you."
"Yeah, but he doesn't want anything." Rory started walking toward the door. "So, we can get back out there now."
"Okay, hold on. Let me at least say hello to my adorable spouse first." Lorelai turned to Luke and smiled. "Hello, adorable spouse."
Luke smiled. "Hey."
"How's it going in here?"
Luke gestured to the empty tables. "Ah, you know. . .raking in the big bucks."
Lorelai glanced around. "Yeah, it seems ridiculously busy today." She patted his hand. "Why don't you close up and come walk around with us for a while? It's nice out."
He gestured to the receipts on the counter. "Maybe a little later. I wanna finish this stuff up first."
"Okay." She started to lean across the counter to kiss him, but her stomach prevented her from leaning too far. She pulled back with a frown. "I can't reach you."
Luke smirked and walked around to her side of the counter. "Better?"
"Yes, thank you." Lorelai kissed him. "See you later."
"Bye."
. . . . .
On the following Saturday morning, Luke, Lorelai and Rory picked up Sookie and Jackson, and the five of them drove to the hospital for the childbirth and family preparation class.
As they headed down the hall toward the recreation room, Luke uncomfortably glanced around at his surroundings and muttered, "I hate hospitals."
Lorelai laced her fingers through his. "Suck it up, big guy. You'll be okay."
"Hospitals are the safest place to be," Rory pointed out. "Let's say you're walking along and you suddenly realize you have monkeypox or something. . .there are like two hundred people right here who can help you out. You aren't gonna find better odds for that anywhere else."
"Very true," Lorelai agreed. "Though if Luke's developed a new freaky hobby of playing with prairie dogs, maybe he doesn't deserve those odds."
They passed by the nurses' station, and several of the nurses greeted Sookie by name. As they walked away, Luke glanced back at them curiously, then at Sookie. "How do they know you?"
"I used to be even more clumsy than I am now," Sookie admitted.
"She'd be in here like twice a week getting things checked over or bandaged up." Lorelai patted Sookie on the shoulder. "I'm glad you finally grew out of that phase."
"Yeah, me, too," Sookie agreed.
They reached the recreation room and glanced in through the open door. Long tables and chairs were arranged in a classroom setup, all focused toward the front of the room where some nurses were talking. In the back of the room behind all of the tables, cushioned mats lined the floor and there were stacks of pillows everywhere.
The five of them slowly moved into the room, but they remained close to the door. There were ten minutes before the class would begin, and people had begun to sit down at the tables. As they contemplated where to sit, a 30-something year old nurse in pink scrubs walked over to them.
"Hi, there," the nurse greeted them with a cheery smile. "Don't be shy, come on in. I'm Sarah, one of the nurses who'll be teaching today."
"Nice to meet you," Lorelai said. "I'm Lorelai, one of the students who'll be having a live person ripped from her body in just a few months."
"That goes for me, too," Sookie added, raising her hand partly. "Well, except my name's not Lorelai, it's Sookie."
Sarah smiled. "Well, congratulations to both of you. And who else do we have here?" The others introduced themselves, then Sarah led them to the front of the room to sign in. She handed each of them a folder filled with papers and pamphlets for the class. "Here you go. You'll find a blank nametag in each of these, along with a pen. Us nurses always make it a goal to learn all of the students' names by the lunch break."
"Ooh, and if you don't, we get a prize, right?" Lorelai asked. "Like a free lifetime supply of diapers or something?"
Sarah chuckled. "Well, that's a bit extravagant. How 'bout you get to keep an extra pen?"
"I'm gonna hold you to that," Lorelai warned.
"Come on, let's go sit," Luke said, taking her arm. The five of them walked to the table in the back and sat down.
After they had put on their name tags, they glanced around at the other students in the class. "There aren't any young kids here," Rory commented.
"There's another class that's designed for families with younger kids," Sookie explained.
"Yeah, this is the adult one," Lorelai said. "The cutoff is seventeen. They figure that's the age that kids can handle the mature stuff, so the instructors can be more candid with things."
Rory nodded understandingly. "Ah, got it."
A few minutes later, one of the nurses at the front of the room clapped her hands a few times. "Okay, we're about to get started," she announced. "Welcome to our monthly childbirth and family preparation class. Hopefully everyone has signed in and put on their nametags. My name is Peach, and since at some point I'm sure someone will ask, yes, I do like eating peaches." There was a murmur of polite laughter, and Peach gestured to the nurses next to her. "This is Sarah and Lisa. . ." They waved. ". . .and we're here to not only give you an overview of the labor process, but to also go over some of the basics of dealing with an infant."
Sarah stepped forward. "Okay, first we're gonna start by having everyone introduce themselves. If you're a mom-to-be, we'd like you to share your name and due date, and if you like, what number child this is for you. For everyone else, we'd like to know your name and relation to the mom-to-be."
They went through the room table by table sharing their information, and when everyone was finished, the nurses talked a little about themselves. Then Lisa stepped forward. "I see we have a lot of first-time parents-to-be here today. Since first-timers are usually a bit more nervous about things, hopefully this class will help relieve you of some concerns you may have. And remember, if any of you have any questions at any point, please raise your hand and ask. That's what we're here for."
. . . . .
The nurses began by going over signs of labor, and how to distinguish between false and true labor. They discussed what to expect at the hospital, what kinds of machines the mom-to-be might be hooked up to, and different types of medications that could be administered to relieve pain.
They showed a video of a woman giving birth, after which Rory immediately leaned over and whispered to Lorelai, "When the time comes, please remind me to adopt."
Lorelai smiled. "I know it looks gross and painful, but it's still a beautiful thing." She turned to Luke. "What'd you think, hon?"
Luke was staring at the blank video screen with wide eyes. Lorelai glanced around and saw that many other people had the same reaction. Lorelai patted Luke on the arm. "You okay?"
He swallowed hard as he turned to look at her. "That was. . .uh. . .interesting."
"That's one way to describe it," Jackson muttered next to him, shaking his head in disbelief.
"That looked really scary," Sookie said nervously.
At the front of the room, Sarah rubbed her hands together. "Well, that was something, wasn't it? Any thoughts?" No one responded, and she smiled. "Okay, I can tell that some of you weren't expecting to see something quite so graphic at 10:30 in the morning. Yes, childbirth is sort of a messy process, and not always the most pleasant thing to go through, but hopefully by the time you leave today, you'll be feeling better about it."
"That's right," Lisa said. "Next we're going to go over some coaching exercises and proper breathing techniques to do during labor. For that, we're going to ask each mom-to-be and one partner to move onto the mat at the back of the room, and for everyone else to please watch from the chairs along the side of the mat."
"But before we get started with that," Peach added, "we're going to take a ten minute break. Get up and stretch a little. Vending machines are down in the lobby area for those who want to get a drink or snack, and bathrooms are down at the end of the hall."
As several people stood up and left the room, Lorelai glanced at Sookie. "Bathroom?"
"Yup."
Lorelai turned to Rory. "Hon?"
Rory shook her head. "I'm good."
"Okay." Lorelai and Sookie left the room.
"So, what'd ya think of the video?" Luke asked Jackson.
"Well, I hate to criticize the miracle of life, but it seemed pretty disgusting," Jackson replied.
Luke nodded in agreement. "Yup. And painful."
"Did you hear the way that woman was screaming?" Jackson asked in disbelief.
"I know, man. I'm glad we're not the ones going through that," Luke commented.
"Yeah, women have a higher pain tolerance for that stuff," Jackson agreed.
"Okay, guys, let's talk while we have some time alone," Rory interrupted in a quiet voice. "Is everything set for this afternoon?"
"As far as I know," Luke replied. "I gave Jess the receipt for the balloons, he's gonna pick them up at one. Babette and Morey are getting the stuff from Weston's, Kirk's setting up the drinks. . ."
"And I talked to Lane before I left," Rory said. "She's all set with the music."
Jackson checked his watch. "Patty's friend should be there already getting things set up and organized. She was gonna get started pretty early."
"I told Lane I'd call her when we were leaving here," Rory said. "So that way she can let everyone know that we're on our way."
Luke nodded. "Good idea."
They talked for another minute or so until Rory saw Lorelai and Sookie return to the room. "Hey. Find it okay?" Rory asked them as they walked over.
"Yeah, we're all set now," Lorelai replied. She gestured to the back of the room. "We should go get a good spot back there."
They walked to the back of the room, and Rory sat in a chair on the side as the other four sat down on the mat. Over the next few minutes, the other couples joined them, and soon the nurses started handing out pillows to each couple and instructing them how to sit. When everyone was positioned correctly, the nurses began going over breathing techniques, relaxation exercises, and communication skills during labor.
. . . . .
When the mat portion of the class was finished, they moved back to the tables and went over some more information, including possible problems during delivery, the topic of breastfeeding, and what the rest of the hospital stay would be like post-birth.
Then it was time for the lunch break, and the five of them ordered sandwiches at the hospital cafeteria.
"Okay, one thing we need to work on," Lorelai said to Luke, "is our communication during labor. I think when I'm in there trying to deal with the extreme pain, I'm gonna need something a little more soothing than a tap on my arm and you muttering 'come on.'"
Rory smiled. "I noticed the words of encouragement seemed a little sparse."
"I know, right?" Lorelai said. "I mean, throw in an 'I love you', a 'you're doing great', something more supportive."
"I just felt weird being. . .you know. . ." Luke's voice trailed off and he shrugged.
"Lovey-dovey with all those people around?" Lorelai suggested.
"Basically yes."
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "If I was able to do all those funky breathing exercises in front of everyone, you could've sucked it up and been sweet to your wife. Who cares if people hear you?"
"It was a simulated labor," Luke reminded her. "It'll be different during the real one."
Lorelai gestured toward Jackson. "You should get some tips from Jackson, he was being so supportive. He didn't care that other people were around."
Sookie smiled and patted Jackson on the arm. "Wasn't he adorable?"
"Yes, he was," Lorelai said, then shot Luke a look.
"Then maybe Jackson should come into the delivery room with you when you have the baby," Luke suggested.
"Maybe he should," Lorelai agreed. "You wouldn't mind, would ya, Jackson?"
Jackson slowly looked up from his sandwich. "Uh. . .well . . ." He glanced at Sookie. "I'm not sure if that's. . . well, it might be a little – "
Sookie rolled her eyes. "They're kidding, sweetie. Eat your sandwich."
"So we're all done with the pre-birth stuff now, right?" Rory asked. "The rest of the class is about babies?"
Lorelai grinned. "Yup. That's the fun part."
. . . . .
Twenty minutes later, they were back in the recreation room ready to start the second part of the class. The nurses handed out baby dolls to each person, then returned to the front of the room.
"Now, this part of the class is to help familiarize you with some of the basics of caring for infants," Lisa said. "Some of you who have other kids or have been around kids may already know most of this stuff, but for others. . .first time parents, for example. . .this is a brand new world for you guys."
"One of the most important things you'll all need to know is how to hold the baby," Sarah said. "We're going to ask everyone to please stand up. . ." The class stood up at their tables. "And gently pick up your babies. . ."
Lorelai put one arm under the neck of the doll and the other on its bottom, then slowly brought the doll up to her shoulder as if it was a real baby. She glanced at Luke in time to see him grab the doll by its hand and pick it up. "Luke!" she whispered, and startled, he dropped the doll back on the table and it slid onto the floor.
"Jesus," he muttered as he bent down to pick it up. He put it on the table and turned to Lorelai with a sigh. "What?"
"You were picking it up wrong," Lorelai whispered.
"She didn't say how to do it, so how could it be wrong?"
"Just do it like this. . ."
Rory, Sookie, and Jackson, all cradling their dolls, watched as Lorelai quickly showed him how to pick it up correctly. Luke picked it up and held it uncomfortably over his shoulder, and they all turned toward the front of the room where the nurses were going over the different ways to hold the baby.
When they were finished with that, Peach held up a diaper at the front of the room. "Take a very good look at this – you will see more of these than you'll care to remember over the next few years. For those of you who have never changed a diaper before, don't worry – it's not a difficult task, and by the end of the first week with your newborn, you'll be able to do it with your eyes closed. Though for the sake of the baby, that's not recommended." There was some soft laughter from the class as the nurses walked around the room handing out diapers.
Peach returned to the front of the room and began going over the process step by step while Sarah and Lisa walked around supervising.
Lorelai expertly diapered her doll. "I guess it's like riding a bicycle. . ." She checked to see how Luke was doing next to her. His doll was face down on the table as he struggled to tape the two sides of the diaper shut. "Luke. . .it's on backwards," she pointed out. "And your baby is suffocating on the table."
Luke sighed as he held the doll up. "How can it be on backwards? I followed what she said." He gestured toward Peach at the front of the room.
"Uh, no, not really. She said to do it like this." Lorelai held up her own doll with the diaper properly secured. "Trust me, the sticky parts go in the front."
"Well, maybe if we didn't sit at a table all the way in the back, I'd be able to see the demonstration better," he mumbled as he ripped the diaper off of his doll.
Sarah walked up to their table. "Oh, are we having some trouble?"
"Just a little," Luke replied curtly.
"Don't get frustrated," Sarah said encouragingly. "Not everyone gets it on the first try. Would you like me to demonstrate?"
Luke shook his head. "No, thanks. I figured out my mistake." Sarah smiled and moved on to the next table. Luke sighed and dropped the baby doll in front of him. "This is so stupid."
"Don't worry about it, Luke," Rory said. "I had trouble, too."
"Try it again," Lorelai said to him. She handed him another diaper. "Here. Remember, the sticky tabs should end up in the front."
Luke reluctantly tried it again. He finished with the tabs in the right places, though when he picked the doll up, the diaper slid off.
"Oops. That was better, though," Lorelai said, patting him on the arm. "Just make it a little tighter next time."
Luke put the doll down. "I'm not doing it again."
"Come on, just one more time."
"I don't want to," he said through pursed lips.
Lorelai frowned at him. "Don't you wanna learn?"
"I'll learn some other time," he whispered in an annoyed tone. "I don't feel like doing it right now, okay?"
Lorelai narrowed her eyes and shrugged him off. "Okay, geez." She turned to face the front of the room.
"Okay, we're gonna practice diapering for a few more minutes," Peach announced. "Then we're gonna move onto feeding the baby. . ."
. . . . .
It was almost two o'clock when the class finished up, and the five of them gathered their folders and headed down the hall toward the hospital exit.
"Well, that was highly informative," Rory commented.
"Yes, it was a good introduction to parenthood," Sookie said. "Right, hon?"
"Mmhmm," Jackson agreed.
"It was a good refresher course for me," Lorelai said. "And the nurses were great."
"Yeah, they really made the class fun," Sookie agreed.
Luke was quiet through this, and Lorelai laced her fingers through his. "So. . .what'd you think?"
Luke shrugged. "It was okay."
Lorelai could tell something was bothering him. She sighed softly and turned her attention back to Sookie. Sure that they weren't paying attention, Luke glanced at Rory and made a phone-call gesture with his hand.
Rory nodded and pulled her cell phone out of her purse. "Uh. . .I forgot, I told Lane I'd come over when I was done here, so I'm gonna call and tell her that I'm. . ." Her voice trailed off when she realized neither Lorelai or Sookie were paying attention to her cover story.
When they walked out into the parking lot, Rory hung back, letting the others get a few feet ahead of her as she dialed Lane's number. Rory told her they would be there in a few minutes, then rushed to catch up with the others.
They piled into the SUV and pulled out of the hospital parking lot. Lorelai watched Luke, who was driving silently as Rory, Sookie, and Jackson talked in the backseat. Lorelai ran her hand over Luke's arm. "Hey. . .you okay?"
Luke nodded, still looking straight ahead.
Lorelai nibbled momentarily on her bottom lip. "Are you mad about something?"
"Nope."
"You're awfully quiet," she noted. "That's how you get when you're mad."
Luke glanced at her with a sigh. "I have a headache, so I'm waiting for it to go away, okay?"
Lorelai frowned slightly. "Okay. . .sorry." She sighed softly and stared out the passenger window as they headed toward the town square.
. . . . .
To be continued. . .
Thanks for all the feedback. :)
