A/N: This is a little fluffy idea that's been swimming around in my head for the past few days, and I just had to get it out. Please tell me what you think, it keeps me motivated to continue to write! (I've got another story idea that I just have to write down, hopefully soon)
Disclaimer: The characters of Gilmore Girls are not mine, no matter how much I wish they were. I'm just playing with them.
Friday Night Surprise:
A not so comfortable silence was settled around the Gilmore dining room table as Emily, Rory, Luke, and Lorelai all sat chewing their salads lost in their own thoughts. Lorelai was never one who chose the silent route to anything, but tonight she was afraid that if she opened her mouth at all, the almost non-existent amount of food she had consumed in the last week would come up and make itself known. So instead she just pushed idly at a wilted artichoke on her plate, praying for her stomach to stop flipping over.
Emily noticed Lorelai's surprising lack of appetite when the artichoke she had been pushing at suddenly rolled off her plate, onto the table, and then finally landed with a plop on to the floor by Lorelai's feet.
"Lorelai, are you alright? You don't look well." Emily scanned her face, trying to see what was up.
Lorelai's stomach lurched, and a wave of heat swept over her. She cleared her throat as much as she dared, and then shook her head. "I'm just feeling a little bit under the weather is all," she said quickly. The less time her mouth was open, the less chance of anything coming out of it she figured.
"Oh Lorelai, I hope you're not getting the flu. Have you been to the doctor? How long have you been feeling sick?"
Lorelai held up a hand to stop the slew of questions. "What's with the twenty questions mom? I don't think it's the flu. I've just been really nauseous, puking all the time, and feeling a little bit dizzy. I haven't had a fever or anything; it's probably just a bug."
Emily's fork suddenly fell from her fingers, clanging loudly on the edge of her salad plate. Her hand went up to her mouth as she started coughing roughly on a piece of half chewed tomato she had just put in her mouth. 'Could it be?' she thought to herself. Lorelai obviously had not considered it, but those symptoms seemed awfully familiar.
"Are you okay mom? You're not getting sick too are you?"
Emily shook her head quickly. "No, Lorelai I'm not sick." Lorelai nodded that she was glad, but didn't open her mouth again. Emily's mind was spinning with possibilities, and no one else had even seen it! She glanced quickly across the table where Luke was stabbing at his salad, alternating between looking into his plate and looking concernedly over in Lorelai's direction. He was obviously clueless. She looked next over to her right where Rory was gripping her fork slightly above her plate, and staring right at her mother. Her face had suddenly gone pale, and then flushed considerably within a few second time span. She tore her eyes away from Lorelai's face when she felt eyes watching her, and she turned to face her grandmother. Her eyes were wide and bright, and Emily nodded slightly to her. 'Well at least Rory isn't completely clueless.' She and Rory both turned back to Lorelai then, "So you feel nauseous all the time, you're dizzy, and throwing up. What have you eaten lately?"
Lorelai shrugged slightly. "Not much; it's hard to keep anything down. Although I have been having this weird craving for pickles, which is very strange because I can hardly even drink coffee let alone eat strange vegetable-like things."
It was Luke's turn now to drop his fork, which he did in mid bite. He coughed slightly, and his face turned a bright shade of pink.
"Oh no Luke, are you getting sick now too? I'm contaminating everyone!" Lorelai put her hands up to her mouth, covering it like a small mask.
"Lorelai what are you doing?" Emily asked, slightly amused and slightly annoyed by Lorelai's lack of awareness.
"I'm trying to keep my germs from getting to you guys," came her muffled reply from behind her hands.
Emily chuckled slightly. "First of all, you putting your hands in front of your mouth is doing nothing to protect us from your germs. Second, what you have is definitely not contagious."
Lorelai's hands slipped away from her mouth slightly, "How do you know I'm not contagious? You don't even know what I have!" She looked to Rory and then Luke who both had strange looks on their faces. "What the hell is going on?" she spat a little sharper than she had intended. 'Where did that come from?'
This time Rory spoke, "Mom, you're feeling nauseous and throwing up, you are having weird cravings, feeling dizzy, and having mood swings." Lorelai was about to protest the mood swings part when something in her head suddenly clicked. Her fork joined the other three when it slipped from her fingers onto the table, and her eyes got wider than Rory had ever seen them.
"Oh my God." Lorelai's hand was at her mouth again, but this time it was a gesture of surprise. She turned her wide eyes on Luke then, and their stares locked. They were both thinking the exact same thing at the exact same second, and they knew it. Lorelai's stomach gave a giant rumble and suddenly she needed to run to the bathroom. Her napkin flew off her lap as she raced out of the room, her hand now clenched over her mouth trying to stop her from getting sick all over her mother's expensive rug. She reached the bathroom quickly and turned on the faucet, letting the icy water that came spurting out run over her fingers and splash onto her face. Her stomach seemed to have calmed down slightly, and she turned the water off, bringing her head to look up into the wall length mirror directly in front of her. Her mouth was open slightly, her eyes wild, her hair tucked haphazardly behind her ears, and her hand was resting on her stomach. That's where her eyes were staring now, at the little tiny bump beneath her hand. The little tiny bump that was going to change everything.
A soft knock echoed through the sparsely furnished bathroom, and Luke's voice carried through the door. "Lorelai, can I come in?" he asked softly. She reached for the door knob and pulled the door open a crack; he pushed it the rest of the way and then shut it behind him. He stood silent for a moment, not sure exactly what to do or say. His attention was focused of the hand that was resting on her midsection, and he walked up behind her to look into the mirror with her. Her eyes were still pointed downward, and they only caught a glimpse of Luke when his hand snaked around her waist to rest on top of hers. His fingers rubbed hers gently, trying to coax her to look up at him. She finally did, and their eyes locked again. Luke saw something there, something he had only seen a few times in all the years he had known Lorelai, something he had been seeing more and more in the months that they had been dating, and the single month that they had been married. It was a little sparkle that sprung up in the moments when she was least guarded, when she was clearly very happy with herself, and happy with whatever was happening at that particular moment. He had seen it at Rory's graduation, he had seen it that night on her couch when she had sleepily muttered goodnight to him, and whispered "I love you" in his ear, he had seen it the night he proposed to her under the chuppuh in her backyard, he had seen it on their wedding day when they slipped the rings on each other's fingers, and he was seeing it right now; reflecting out at him while their hands gently pressed on her stomach. It wasn't enough for him though, to just see it in the mirror. He turned her around gently so he could stare into her eyes, to know for sure that this was a moment, and that this was going to be okay.
Lorelai smiled widely then, and Luke pulled her into the tightest hug he dared to give her, and she whispered into his ear, "We're having a baby."
He could feel her smile on his cheek, and her laugh on his neck. It was sending shivers down his spine, but it was one of the best feelings he had ever felt, and he didn't want to ever let Lorelai go. They both pulled apart though, when they heard another knock on the bathroom door. Luke kept one hand intertwined with Lorelai's and the other reached out to pull the door open. Rory stood on the other side with a worried look on her face. But then she saw that they were holding hands, and they had matching grins plastered on their faces.
"Grandma's waiting." She stated simply and practically skipped back out to the table, the infectious grin now spreading to her face as well.
Luke and Lorelai entered the dining room only a moment after Rory, still holding hands and both a little teary. Lorelai opened her mouth to speak, but Luke beat her to it. "Emily, Rory: Lorelai and I are having a baby." His hand reached out and softly touched the tiny bump under Lorelai's shirt, and Rory jumped out of her seat unable to contain herself any longer.
"This is so great!" she told them both as she pulled them into a large hug. Her hand too made its way to Lorelai's stomach and gave it an affectionate little rub. "What are we going to name it?" she asked excitedly.
"Let me just pull out my list because I have had so much time to think this one over!" Lorelai told her with a little flip of her hand.
"Oh right. Sorry I'm just so excited!"
Lorelai turned to face her mother when she stood from the table for the first time since they had come back into the room. She had a strange smile that Lorelai couldn't remember ever seeing before. "Congratulations Lorelai," she started, "this one is not going to slip away from me, so don't even think about trying anything this time."
Lorelai's smile got even wider. Was Emily genuinely happy for her? Was that why the look on her face was so new, so different? "I wouldn't dream of it Mom." Lorelai pulled her into their little group hug, and they all stood around like little children at Christmas time: so excited and happy about all the things that were happening and all the things to come.