WHAT IT IS: A sequel, to my other Trory, What Happens When. Now, I had no
intentions at all to do a sequel. However, you're getting one, because of
all the Jess/Dean/Rory angst currently on the show—it's stressing me out.
So, since I had decided that fluff was probably all I'd get out of a sequel
and fluff is what I need right now (it's either fluff or unbearable angst
coming out of me right now)—here's a sequel.
WHAT I OWN: Nada.
RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.
As promised, Lorelai had indeed pulled together Rory's first baby shower in record time. It took her and Sookie all of three days to plan the grand event and make sure the entire town knew how to help, what to bring and when to get there. It was to be held in the Dragonfly, as it was the only place they could be sure to hold all the people. Also, some of Rory's friends were coming in from out of state, and staying there, so it made it convenient. Rory and Tristan had driven up the night before, to get settled. Rory knew Tristan was looking forward to the day with his father and grandfather like he would a root canal, but she was more excited than she had been in a long time. She got to see Lane, whom she hadn't seen in almost a year. Lane's band had been growing in popularity in the last few years, and their last break in touring had come a little over a year ago. She calls Rory from the road, and did fly out to be a bridesmaid at the wedding. But the actual sightings of Lane Kim were few and far between.
Rory and Tristan came down for breakfast in the dining room, and ran into Jess and Erin, who were just finishing up. Erin, having heard so much about the town by now, was dying to walk around and see for herself what it was really like. Jess agreed to walk her around, trying to convince her that it really wouldn't take all that long. Rory laughed, and reminded them that the shower was at 2pm. Jess rolled his eyes and commented something about being back in 20 minutes. With that, Erin pulled him out of the dining room.
"So, are you sure guys can't come to this thing?"
"I'm positive. This is feminine bonding time. The eternal knowledge of women passed down to the new generations."
"It's cake and wives tales."
"You can't come," Rory informed him again.
"I'm the father. I can't have cake?"
"I'll save you a piece. You're still going to Hartford today."
"You're mean when you're pregnant."
"Right. Get Jess to go with you."
"I tried that. He said he has to help Luke out with something."
"Janlan will be there."
"You aren't helping the matter. While it's nice that he'll be on my side, it still doesn't make it appealing to go."
"Well, just think that when you get back, we'll have all this new stuff for the baby."
Tristan looked at her, and shook his head. "Hey, what about your dad?"
"He won't play golf."
"No, you never told me how it went when you called him."
"He wasn't home. I left a message for him to call me on my cell, but he hasn't called back."
"That's strange."
"Not really. Georgia's out of school, they're probably just on vacation or something."
Tristan nodded. He finished his breakfast and walked Rory over to her mom's house. They met up with Jess and Erin there, who were sitting in the front room talking with Luke and Lorelai.
"Hey, the gangs all here!" Rory said, walking in and hugging her mother.
"I was just about to go over to the Dragonfly. We have some last minute set up to do."
"I can help," Rory offered.
"What have I told you about that? Tristan, seriously, you need to get her a maid, something to teach her to let others do for her."
"Mom, we're not getting a maid."
"Well, you aren't helping. It's a party for you. And you're in a delicate condition."
"She's not delicate. She's if anything, meaner than ever," Tristan commented, pulling Rory into him for a big hug.
"See how he restrains me so I can't maim him when he makes comments like that?"
"You've trained him well," Lorelai commented, giggling.
"Where's Will?"
"Napping. He's getting geared up. Luke, Jess and he are all doing something very secretive today."
"Oooh. Intrigue!"
"You know it. Us women should be going. Is Lane here yet?"
"She and Paris were meeting at the airport and sharing a ride here, they should be here around 1."
"What about Marty?"
"He's staying in LA."
"Alright. Tristan, you have other plans?"
"Yeah, I'm going to walk you guys back to the Inn, then I'm off to Hartford."
"Excellent, we seem to have all our bases covered. Ladies, follow me!" Lorelai announced dramatically, and walked out the door determinedly. Rory giggled, Tristan rolled his eyes, and Erin stood, saying goodbye to Jess. He pulled her into a deep kiss, which made Luke uncomfortable.
"Alright, geez, Jess, leave some of her face on," he gruffly commented.
Jess pulled back, smiling, leaving Erin blushing a little. Rory put her arm around the girl, pulling her away.
"Don't be embarrassed. I've seen Mom and Luke in much hotter embraces," she shot Luke a look, which caused him to blush as well.
"Let's get out of here, before your mother comes back in," Tristan ushered them out the door, waving to Luke and Jess.
Once back at the Dragonfly, Tristan gratefully departed after Ms. Patty came up and fondled him a good little bit. Rory laughed as the older woman commented on how he was the finest specimen of maleness she'd ever seen. He blushed, which was rare for him, as she grabbed his posterior and whispered something into his ear. He quickly pulled away, kissed Rory's cheek and got into their car, headed for Hartford.
The women of Stars Hollow were out in full force, coming with large, gift- wrapped packages, food and tons of gossip. Rory was sitting on the porch, not working as per her mother's orders, while Lorelai and Sookie, who'd just had her newest child, a son called Jack, two months before, ran around making sure everything was where it should be. Sookie had outdone herself, making a cake in the shape of a baby bottle and enough finger foods to feed a large army.
Rory was quietly reading while all this commotion was going on. She looked up with she heard a familiar voice coming towards her.
"ARE YOU READY TO ROCK, STARS HOLLOW?!"
"LANE!"
The two girls hurried towards each other, embracing and instantly giggling and chatting as if not a moment had passed. No matter the time or distance between them, it was the nature of their tight bond. Paris came up slower, much more reserved, and Rory paused to give her a hug as well. She took Paris' left hand to admire the ring that Rory hadn't yet seen. The three sat down on the porch to catch up.
"Rory?"
Rory looked up to see what new guest was arriving. She saw Elizabeth Dugrey and walked up to hug her.
"Paris, how lovely to see you! Jane didn't mention you'd be in town this weekend!"
"Mother doesn't know I'm here. I just came for the shower, I have to get right back to the hospital," Paris explained, hugging Elizabeth.
"She says you're doing well."
"Yes."
"She also says you're getting married," Elizabeth noted, looking at the ring as Paris awkwardly held out her hand for her to inspect.
"Not bad. When do we get to meet his man?"
"You'll love him. I introduced them. He went to Yale with us," Rory interjected.
"Oh, how lovely. Shall we get inside?"
Just then Lorelai bolted through the front door, to collect Rory. She hugged the other women, and told them it was show time. She led Rory to a large, overstuffed chair that looked somewhat like a throne of sorts. Lorelai had placed a stack of large pillows in front of it, so Rory could prop her feet up. Waiters started milling about with trays of food for the guests, who were seated throughout the dining room that had been converted to party central for the afternoon.
Lorelai stepped next to Rory to start the festivities.
"Thank you all for coming. We're here for a very special occasion, to celebrate the coming of my first grandchild! Now, I promised Rory here that we'd have none of those silly, stupid shower games. So we're going to have some useful, fun shower games instead," Lorelai winked at Rory impishly.
Meanwhile in Hartford, Tristan parked his car at the Hartford Country Club. He turned off the ignition and sat in his car for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He only had to stay away from the Inn until 5pm. Lorelai and Rory had both promised him that the shower would be over by then, so he could make his escape in three hours. Three long hours. He let out a long breath and got out of his car. He walked into the club and spotted his grandfather first.
"Gramps!" Tristan walked over and hugged the older man.
"Tristan! I'm almost surprised to see you!"
"Are you kidding? How was I going to get out of this one?"
"Fake illness? Self-induced trauma?"
"Ah, you do have faith in my abilities," Tristan smirked.
"Of course, you're a Yale man. And my grandson," he reminded him.
"So, is Dad here?"
"Any moment now. He just called and said he was five minutes away, so we can go ahead out to the first hole, to keep our tee-time."
"Alright. Have you been talking with him?"
"He came by, a couple of weeks ago, to the house. He told me what he'd been up to, the fact that Elizabeth had been talking with him. What do you make of all this?"
Tristan shrugged. "I guess that's why I'm here," he explained.
"And I thought you were here because that wife of yours browbeat you into it," Janlan laughed.
The two men headed out to the first hole on the lush golf course. Tristan had always been a natural at golf, but didn't care much for it. He found it was more useful in business, as his grandfather had always told him it was. Today was business, of sorts. He hated that family gatherings were more like a business transaction than anything else. He had broken the chain with Rory, that part of his life was natural and loving. But this part, it was still colder, more calculated. He watched his back. As much as he loved his mother, he still felt she was too overly swayed by his father. His grandfather he'd always trusted, but even the older man was set in the older ways, not showing much affection. He'd grown softer with age however, as most men do.
Jess looked up at his uncle and watched as he walked back to Will's room to get him up from his nap. Everyone had left a while ago, and they stayed in the living room talking for a while. Neither one was big on the long talks, but it was nice since they rarely saw each other like this. Both had busy lives, and since they didn't live crammed into that small little apartment alone any longer, time to talk was a bit of a luxury. Jess liked to watch Luke with Will. It was nice to see a man in his family have some ability with children. He knew his own father was getting better, too, since he'd seen him with Lily. But maybe he was just good with kids that weren't biologically related to him.
Luke came into the bedroom to see his son, still passed out on his bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and put his hand on his back. He rubbed gentle circles, trying to rouse the boy slowly. After a minute, Will blinked his blue eyes sleepily and looked up at his father. Luke smiled at him as he moved to crawl into his father's lap.
"Hey, kid, how was your nap?"
Will let out an unintelligible noise and hugged his father tighter. Luke picked the child up and carried him out into the living room.
"Look who's here."
"JESS!" Will, now a bit more awake, held his arms out towards his cousin. Luke sat him down on Jess' lap and sat in the chair across from the couch.
"So, you going to help us today?" Jess asked Will.
"Uh-huh, Daddy said I could if I didn't tell Mommy about it," Will explained.
"Oh, well, okay then. We should get started. Where's all the stuff?"
"It's in the tool shed. Ever since I moved in and put all my stuff in there, Lorelai doesn't go near it."
"Well, that makes sense. She's not very mechanically inclined. Let's go," he said as he stood, letting Will slide to the floor. They made their way outside and began their project.
At the Dragonfly, the party was in full swing. Lorelai had everyone write down some practical advice for Rory, and was now reading them aloud out as she pulled them out of a hat.
"Okay, okay, here's another one!" She announced to the crowd to get their attention again. "Ooh, this on is good. 'Remember if you have a boy, to always reposition him while changing his diaper.' Man, I that's the truth. When I had Will, that first time I changed his diaper, he got me, right in the face, ew," she shuddered, remembering the event.
"What are you havin', sugar?" came Babette's voice from the crowd.
"Oh, we didn't want to find out, so I don't know."
"We did that, too, but I knew Tristan would be a boy," Elizabeth interjected.
"Yeah, I knew she'd be a girl," Lorelai ran her hand over Rory's hair.
"Do you have any feelings about this one, yet, dear?" Ms. Patty asked Rory.
"Well, sort of. But I don't know for sure," Rory said, almost in a shy voice.
"Come on, tell us!" Lane urged.
"Well, I don't know for sure, like I said, we haven't had the doctor tell us yet," she reiterated.
"You don't want to be wrong," Paris offered.
"It's not that, I just--," Rory started.
"Get me some thread and a needle," Emily Gilmore ordered, stepping up on the other side of Rory's makeshift throne.
"Grandma, what are you going to do with that?"
"Tell you what you're having, of course. Lorelai, didn't you do this already?"
"No, Mom, because it's just an old wives tale."
"Now, let's see, if it goes in a circle then it's a boy, if it goes side to side, it's a girl," Emily explained, holding the needle from the thread over Rory's hand. Rory looked to her mother, who shrugged at her.
"Did this work with Mom?"
"It did. It said you would be a girl, that she would be a girl; the women of my family have always done this, long before sonograms," Emily explained.
"Well, you had to have some way of knowing which colors to coordinate the baby's wing of the house in," Lorelai teased.
The needle slowly started to move, back and forth over Rory's hand. Emily smiled, and looked up at her granddaughter's face. The crowd gave some noises of happiness, and some of disapproval of the method.
"Well, I hope you wanted a girl," she said, giving Rory a hug.
"That's bull-hockey, Rory, dear the only way to know is in how this child was conceived. Tell me dear, what sexual position do you two use most often?"
"PATTY!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"This party is about to get X-rated," Lane whispered to Paris, who nodded.
"Come on, Lorelai, it's the only way to settle this," Patty encouraged. "Come on, dear, don't be shy."
Rory's face couldn't get any redder, and she wasn't the only uncomfortable person in the room. She was pretty sure Elizabeth would rather die than hear about the various positions her son excelled at in the bedroom.
"Now let me see. He looks like a feisty young man; I bet it's a bit more on the wild side. Most of the more adventurous positions result in boys, my dear. Unless you take charge, then it's going to be a girl," she added.
"Patty, I think the 'embarrass Rory' portion is over. Let's get to presents!" Lorelai interjected, not wanting to think about the topic anymore. Rory shot her a grateful look, and Lane helped Lorelai carry presents over to Rory.
Thomas caught up with the two just as they had finished their first swings. He greeted them and took his first shot.
"I'm sorry to be running late. I waited to see Elizabeth off this morning before heading over. She's very excited for the baby shower. You should see all the stuff she bought," he informed Tristan.
"You stayed with Mom last night?"
"Well, it's not a new occurrence, son."
"Well, it is to me."
"I'm sorry, I really didn't want to start off like this. I'm sorry."
"Fine, let's just get to our next shots, alright?"
The men walked along the course in relative silence. Tristan stepped up to take putt his ball closer to the flag.
"So, Dad, how's business going?"
"Very well. I'm going to be retiring at the end of this year."
"Well, it's about time. Who's replacing you?"
"Edwards."
"He'll do a fine job."
"I know it. That's why I'm retiring early."
"Dad, you're 66 years old, that's not early."
"I was going to work 'til I keeled over, son, and I don't intend on going anywhere for a good thirty more years. This is early," he informed Thomas.
"Gramps, you deserve to retire. You've worked very hard. Besides, now you can come visit us and see your great-grandchild more."
"Is this child a boy or girl?"
"Does it matter?"
"No, but now with all this technology, everyone knows so fast. Back when your father was born, you waited 'til the kid came out. Now they could almost tell you on those at home pregnancy tests," Janlan rambled.
"Well, we've decided to go the old fashioned route," Tristan explained.
"I'm surprised at that. When you were young, you had every new technology there was. Here you are, going the old fashioned route."
"Yeah, well, I've changed Dad."
"I see that. You look like you're doing well for yourself. Your mother tells me you've gotten a good job lined up."
"Yes, I do."
"And Rory, she's at the Times?"
"Yes."
"I'm proud of you," Thomas told his son sincerely.
"So am I," Janlan agreed.
"Well, thank you," Tristan muttered. He stepped back and let the other two men play their shots. He wasn't sure how he liked his father taking a true interest in his life. It was foreign, and even if it seemed sincere, it would take a lot of getting used to.
"Where is that last slat?" Luke asked in frustration. He was lying on his back, underneath what they had already put together, while Jess held it in place. Jess turned to see Will using the offending slat as an airplane, flying it through the air.
"Uh, Luke, I think Will can answer that." He nodded in Will's direction.
"Will! Not to ruin your fun, but I need that," Luke informed him. Will walked over to his father and handed him the piece of wood.
"Thank you."
"Can I help?"
"Yes, you can go get me the hammer. Do you remember which one is the hammer?"
Will nodded and ran over to Bert. Luke had tried to get Lorelai to just refer to it as a toolbox, but she claimed if it was officially going to live with her, he had to have a name. She had even written 'BERT' in bold letters on the inside of the lid. He'd given up on trying to figure out what went on in her mind years ago. He retrieved the hammer and nailed the last reinforcement piece to the bottom. He got up and examined the work they'd done so far.
"She's going to love this," Jess offered.
"Yeah. I have another surprise for her, too," Luke admitted.
"What?"
"I built her another bookcase, it'll match this, to go in the baby's room."
"Now, that she'll really love."
"Thanks for helping me with this."
"I'm happy to. I got her some other stuff, too."
"What'd you get her?"
"Erin and I, we found this John Lennon "Imagine" crib set. It has sheets, and a mobile, stuff like that," Jess shrugged.
Luke smiled at his nephew and nodded. "She'll love that, too."
AN: to be continued. This chapter was going to be mega-long, so I'm cutting it up into another chapter here. Next time, we'll get back to the baby shower, the golf course and the tool shed. Hope you enjoyed it!
WHAT I OWN: Nada.
RATING: PG-13, just to be safe. It is fluff after all.
As promised, Lorelai had indeed pulled together Rory's first baby shower in record time. It took her and Sookie all of three days to plan the grand event and make sure the entire town knew how to help, what to bring and when to get there. It was to be held in the Dragonfly, as it was the only place they could be sure to hold all the people. Also, some of Rory's friends were coming in from out of state, and staying there, so it made it convenient. Rory and Tristan had driven up the night before, to get settled. Rory knew Tristan was looking forward to the day with his father and grandfather like he would a root canal, but she was more excited than she had been in a long time. She got to see Lane, whom she hadn't seen in almost a year. Lane's band had been growing in popularity in the last few years, and their last break in touring had come a little over a year ago. She calls Rory from the road, and did fly out to be a bridesmaid at the wedding. But the actual sightings of Lane Kim were few and far between.
Rory and Tristan came down for breakfast in the dining room, and ran into Jess and Erin, who were just finishing up. Erin, having heard so much about the town by now, was dying to walk around and see for herself what it was really like. Jess agreed to walk her around, trying to convince her that it really wouldn't take all that long. Rory laughed, and reminded them that the shower was at 2pm. Jess rolled his eyes and commented something about being back in 20 minutes. With that, Erin pulled him out of the dining room.
"So, are you sure guys can't come to this thing?"
"I'm positive. This is feminine bonding time. The eternal knowledge of women passed down to the new generations."
"It's cake and wives tales."
"You can't come," Rory informed him again.
"I'm the father. I can't have cake?"
"I'll save you a piece. You're still going to Hartford today."
"You're mean when you're pregnant."
"Right. Get Jess to go with you."
"I tried that. He said he has to help Luke out with something."
"Janlan will be there."
"You aren't helping the matter. While it's nice that he'll be on my side, it still doesn't make it appealing to go."
"Well, just think that when you get back, we'll have all this new stuff for the baby."
Tristan looked at her, and shook his head. "Hey, what about your dad?"
"He won't play golf."
"No, you never told me how it went when you called him."
"He wasn't home. I left a message for him to call me on my cell, but he hasn't called back."
"That's strange."
"Not really. Georgia's out of school, they're probably just on vacation or something."
Tristan nodded. He finished his breakfast and walked Rory over to her mom's house. They met up with Jess and Erin there, who were sitting in the front room talking with Luke and Lorelai.
"Hey, the gangs all here!" Rory said, walking in and hugging her mother.
"I was just about to go over to the Dragonfly. We have some last minute set up to do."
"I can help," Rory offered.
"What have I told you about that? Tristan, seriously, you need to get her a maid, something to teach her to let others do for her."
"Mom, we're not getting a maid."
"Well, you aren't helping. It's a party for you. And you're in a delicate condition."
"She's not delicate. She's if anything, meaner than ever," Tristan commented, pulling Rory into him for a big hug.
"See how he restrains me so I can't maim him when he makes comments like that?"
"You've trained him well," Lorelai commented, giggling.
"Where's Will?"
"Napping. He's getting geared up. Luke, Jess and he are all doing something very secretive today."
"Oooh. Intrigue!"
"You know it. Us women should be going. Is Lane here yet?"
"She and Paris were meeting at the airport and sharing a ride here, they should be here around 1."
"What about Marty?"
"He's staying in LA."
"Alright. Tristan, you have other plans?"
"Yeah, I'm going to walk you guys back to the Inn, then I'm off to Hartford."
"Excellent, we seem to have all our bases covered. Ladies, follow me!" Lorelai announced dramatically, and walked out the door determinedly. Rory giggled, Tristan rolled his eyes, and Erin stood, saying goodbye to Jess. He pulled her into a deep kiss, which made Luke uncomfortable.
"Alright, geez, Jess, leave some of her face on," he gruffly commented.
Jess pulled back, smiling, leaving Erin blushing a little. Rory put her arm around the girl, pulling her away.
"Don't be embarrassed. I've seen Mom and Luke in much hotter embraces," she shot Luke a look, which caused him to blush as well.
"Let's get out of here, before your mother comes back in," Tristan ushered them out the door, waving to Luke and Jess.
Once back at the Dragonfly, Tristan gratefully departed after Ms. Patty came up and fondled him a good little bit. Rory laughed as the older woman commented on how he was the finest specimen of maleness she'd ever seen. He blushed, which was rare for him, as she grabbed his posterior and whispered something into his ear. He quickly pulled away, kissed Rory's cheek and got into their car, headed for Hartford.
The women of Stars Hollow were out in full force, coming with large, gift- wrapped packages, food and tons of gossip. Rory was sitting on the porch, not working as per her mother's orders, while Lorelai and Sookie, who'd just had her newest child, a son called Jack, two months before, ran around making sure everything was where it should be. Sookie had outdone herself, making a cake in the shape of a baby bottle and enough finger foods to feed a large army.
Rory was quietly reading while all this commotion was going on. She looked up with she heard a familiar voice coming towards her.
"ARE YOU READY TO ROCK, STARS HOLLOW?!"
"LANE!"
The two girls hurried towards each other, embracing and instantly giggling and chatting as if not a moment had passed. No matter the time or distance between them, it was the nature of their tight bond. Paris came up slower, much more reserved, and Rory paused to give her a hug as well. She took Paris' left hand to admire the ring that Rory hadn't yet seen. The three sat down on the porch to catch up.
"Rory?"
Rory looked up to see what new guest was arriving. She saw Elizabeth Dugrey and walked up to hug her.
"Paris, how lovely to see you! Jane didn't mention you'd be in town this weekend!"
"Mother doesn't know I'm here. I just came for the shower, I have to get right back to the hospital," Paris explained, hugging Elizabeth.
"She says you're doing well."
"Yes."
"She also says you're getting married," Elizabeth noted, looking at the ring as Paris awkwardly held out her hand for her to inspect.
"Not bad. When do we get to meet his man?"
"You'll love him. I introduced them. He went to Yale with us," Rory interjected.
"Oh, how lovely. Shall we get inside?"
Just then Lorelai bolted through the front door, to collect Rory. She hugged the other women, and told them it was show time. She led Rory to a large, overstuffed chair that looked somewhat like a throne of sorts. Lorelai had placed a stack of large pillows in front of it, so Rory could prop her feet up. Waiters started milling about with trays of food for the guests, who were seated throughout the dining room that had been converted to party central for the afternoon.
Lorelai stepped next to Rory to start the festivities.
"Thank you all for coming. We're here for a very special occasion, to celebrate the coming of my first grandchild! Now, I promised Rory here that we'd have none of those silly, stupid shower games. So we're going to have some useful, fun shower games instead," Lorelai winked at Rory impishly.
Meanwhile in Hartford, Tristan parked his car at the Hartford Country Club. He turned off the ignition and sat in his car for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He only had to stay away from the Inn until 5pm. Lorelai and Rory had both promised him that the shower would be over by then, so he could make his escape in three hours. Three long hours. He let out a long breath and got out of his car. He walked into the club and spotted his grandfather first.
"Gramps!" Tristan walked over and hugged the older man.
"Tristan! I'm almost surprised to see you!"
"Are you kidding? How was I going to get out of this one?"
"Fake illness? Self-induced trauma?"
"Ah, you do have faith in my abilities," Tristan smirked.
"Of course, you're a Yale man. And my grandson," he reminded him.
"So, is Dad here?"
"Any moment now. He just called and said he was five minutes away, so we can go ahead out to the first hole, to keep our tee-time."
"Alright. Have you been talking with him?"
"He came by, a couple of weeks ago, to the house. He told me what he'd been up to, the fact that Elizabeth had been talking with him. What do you make of all this?"
Tristan shrugged. "I guess that's why I'm here," he explained.
"And I thought you were here because that wife of yours browbeat you into it," Janlan laughed.
The two men headed out to the first hole on the lush golf course. Tristan had always been a natural at golf, but didn't care much for it. He found it was more useful in business, as his grandfather had always told him it was. Today was business, of sorts. He hated that family gatherings were more like a business transaction than anything else. He had broken the chain with Rory, that part of his life was natural and loving. But this part, it was still colder, more calculated. He watched his back. As much as he loved his mother, he still felt she was too overly swayed by his father. His grandfather he'd always trusted, but even the older man was set in the older ways, not showing much affection. He'd grown softer with age however, as most men do.
Jess looked up at his uncle and watched as he walked back to Will's room to get him up from his nap. Everyone had left a while ago, and they stayed in the living room talking for a while. Neither one was big on the long talks, but it was nice since they rarely saw each other like this. Both had busy lives, and since they didn't live crammed into that small little apartment alone any longer, time to talk was a bit of a luxury. Jess liked to watch Luke with Will. It was nice to see a man in his family have some ability with children. He knew his own father was getting better, too, since he'd seen him with Lily. But maybe he was just good with kids that weren't biologically related to him.
Luke came into the bedroom to see his son, still passed out on his bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and put his hand on his back. He rubbed gentle circles, trying to rouse the boy slowly. After a minute, Will blinked his blue eyes sleepily and looked up at his father. Luke smiled at him as he moved to crawl into his father's lap.
"Hey, kid, how was your nap?"
Will let out an unintelligible noise and hugged his father tighter. Luke picked the child up and carried him out into the living room.
"Look who's here."
"JESS!" Will, now a bit more awake, held his arms out towards his cousin. Luke sat him down on Jess' lap and sat in the chair across from the couch.
"So, you going to help us today?" Jess asked Will.
"Uh-huh, Daddy said I could if I didn't tell Mommy about it," Will explained.
"Oh, well, okay then. We should get started. Where's all the stuff?"
"It's in the tool shed. Ever since I moved in and put all my stuff in there, Lorelai doesn't go near it."
"Well, that makes sense. She's not very mechanically inclined. Let's go," he said as he stood, letting Will slide to the floor. They made their way outside and began their project.
At the Dragonfly, the party was in full swing. Lorelai had everyone write down some practical advice for Rory, and was now reading them aloud out as she pulled them out of a hat.
"Okay, okay, here's another one!" She announced to the crowd to get their attention again. "Ooh, this on is good. 'Remember if you have a boy, to always reposition him while changing his diaper.' Man, I that's the truth. When I had Will, that first time I changed his diaper, he got me, right in the face, ew," she shuddered, remembering the event.
"What are you havin', sugar?" came Babette's voice from the crowd.
"Oh, we didn't want to find out, so I don't know."
"We did that, too, but I knew Tristan would be a boy," Elizabeth interjected.
"Yeah, I knew she'd be a girl," Lorelai ran her hand over Rory's hair.
"Do you have any feelings about this one, yet, dear?" Ms. Patty asked Rory.
"Well, sort of. But I don't know for sure," Rory said, almost in a shy voice.
"Come on, tell us!" Lane urged.
"Well, I don't know for sure, like I said, we haven't had the doctor tell us yet," she reiterated.
"You don't want to be wrong," Paris offered.
"It's not that, I just--," Rory started.
"Get me some thread and a needle," Emily Gilmore ordered, stepping up on the other side of Rory's makeshift throne.
"Grandma, what are you going to do with that?"
"Tell you what you're having, of course. Lorelai, didn't you do this already?"
"No, Mom, because it's just an old wives tale."
"Now, let's see, if it goes in a circle then it's a boy, if it goes side to side, it's a girl," Emily explained, holding the needle from the thread over Rory's hand. Rory looked to her mother, who shrugged at her.
"Did this work with Mom?"
"It did. It said you would be a girl, that she would be a girl; the women of my family have always done this, long before sonograms," Emily explained.
"Well, you had to have some way of knowing which colors to coordinate the baby's wing of the house in," Lorelai teased.
The needle slowly started to move, back and forth over Rory's hand. Emily smiled, and looked up at her granddaughter's face. The crowd gave some noises of happiness, and some of disapproval of the method.
"Well, I hope you wanted a girl," she said, giving Rory a hug.
"That's bull-hockey, Rory, dear the only way to know is in how this child was conceived. Tell me dear, what sexual position do you two use most often?"
"PATTY!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"This party is about to get X-rated," Lane whispered to Paris, who nodded.
"Come on, Lorelai, it's the only way to settle this," Patty encouraged. "Come on, dear, don't be shy."
Rory's face couldn't get any redder, and she wasn't the only uncomfortable person in the room. She was pretty sure Elizabeth would rather die than hear about the various positions her son excelled at in the bedroom.
"Now let me see. He looks like a feisty young man; I bet it's a bit more on the wild side. Most of the more adventurous positions result in boys, my dear. Unless you take charge, then it's going to be a girl," she added.
"Patty, I think the 'embarrass Rory' portion is over. Let's get to presents!" Lorelai interjected, not wanting to think about the topic anymore. Rory shot her a grateful look, and Lane helped Lorelai carry presents over to Rory.
Thomas caught up with the two just as they had finished their first swings. He greeted them and took his first shot.
"I'm sorry to be running late. I waited to see Elizabeth off this morning before heading over. She's very excited for the baby shower. You should see all the stuff she bought," he informed Tristan.
"You stayed with Mom last night?"
"Well, it's not a new occurrence, son."
"Well, it is to me."
"I'm sorry, I really didn't want to start off like this. I'm sorry."
"Fine, let's just get to our next shots, alright?"
The men walked along the course in relative silence. Tristan stepped up to take putt his ball closer to the flag.
"So, Dad, how's business going?"
"Very well. I'm going to be retiring at the end of this year."
"Well, it's about time. Who's replacing you?"
"Edwards."
"He'll do a fine job."
"I know it. That's why I'm retiring early."
"Dad, you're 66 years old, that's not early."
"I was going to work 'til I keeled over, son, and I don't intend on going anywhere for a good thirty more years. This is early," he informed Thomas.
"Gramps, you deserve to retire. You've worked very hard. Besides, now you can come visit us and see your great-grandchild more."
"Is this child a boy or girl?"
"Does it matter?"
"No, but now with all this technology, everyone knows so fast. Back when your father was born, you waited 'til the kid came out. Now they could almost tell you on those at home pregnancy tests," Janlan rambled.
"Well, we've decided to go the old fashioned route," Tristan explained.
"I'm surprised at that. When you were young, you had every new technology there was. Here you are, going the old fashioned route."
"Yeah, well, I've changed Dad."
"I see that. You look like you're doing well for yourself. Your mother tells me you've gotten a good job lined up."
"Yes, I do."
"And Rory, she's at the Times?"
"Yes."
"I'm proud of you," Thomas told his son sincerely.
"So am I," Janlan agreed.
"Well, thank you," Tristan muttered. He stepped back and let the other two men play their shots. He wasn't sure how he liked his father taking a true interest in his life. It was foreign, and even if it seemed sincere, it would take a lot of getting used to.
"Where is that last slat?" Luke asked in frustration. He was lying on his back, underneath what they had already put together, while Jess held it in place. Jess turned to see Will using the offending slat as an airplane, flying it through the air.
"Uh, Luke, I think Will can answer that." He nodded in Will's direction.
"Will! Not to ruin your fun, but I need that," Luke informed him. Will walked over to his father and handed him the piece of wood.
"Thank you."
"Can I help?"
"Yes, you can go get me the hammer. Do you remember which one is the hammer?"
Will nodded and ran over to Bert. Luke had tried to get Lorelai to just refer to it as a toolbox, but she claimed if it was officially going to live with her, he had to have a name. She had even written 'BERT' in bold letters on the inside of the lid. He'd given up on trying to figure out what went on in her mind years ago. He retrieved the hammer and nailed the last reinforcement piece to the bottom. He got up and examined the work they'd done so far.
"She's going to love this," Jess offered.
"Yeah. I have another surprise for her, too," Luke admitted.
"What?"
"I built her another bookcase, it'll match this, to go in the baby's room."
"Now, that she'll really love."
"Thanks for helping me with this."
"I'm happy to. I got her some other stuff, too."
"What'd you get her?"
"Erin and I, we found this John Lennon "Imagine" crib set. It has sheets, and a mobile, stuff like that," Jess shrugged.
Luke smiled at his nephew and nodded. "She'll love that, too."
AN: to be continued. This chapter was going to be mega-long, so I'm cutting it up into another chapter here. Next time, we'll get back to the baby shower, the golf course and the tool shed. Hope you enjoyed it!