Life on the fast track.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anything remotely close to Gilmore Girls!
I've written the present time in bold italics and the parts where Rory is telling them her story in normal style and that's all you have to know, so enjoy.
Once again I have no experience in childbirth or aftercare, so this is just what I can imagine happens,
And to my reviewers a BIG, BIG thank you.
Chapter 12
"About an hour later Shane is returned to my room clothed in the classic boy blue and bedded in one of those square plastic thingies on wheels"
"Square plastic thingies on wheels?" Paris questions.
"Are you gonna give me grief about details Gellar?" Rory can't help but wince at her choice of word.
"Good point, carry on".
Upon Shane's return the nurse, who accompanies him informs us of his measurements (height, weight etc) and asks Tristan and me to sign some papers to make it official that we're the parents and legal guardians of
Shane Tristan Gilmore. After we have signed all the papers necessary the nurse disappears leaving us alone and since Shane is sleeping peacefully clearly just as exhausted as me I decide to get some shut eye myself while Tristan goes to wake everyone up with his phone calls saying we had the baby because as he put it he is too wired to go to sleep.
When I wake up some hours later Shane has taken residence in Tristan's arms and I lay there watching father and son for a while before I make my presence known. My son is a copy of his father with his sparkling blue eyes and beginnings of blond hair that I'm sure girls will be fawning over in no time but I'm happy to say his face is a mixture of features from both of us. I'm brought out of my reverie by Tristan's voice as he is talking to Shane.
"You're going to be a handful aren't you?" I hear him saying.
"If he takes after his father yeah".
"Look, mommy is awake. Great timing too because I think someone is hungry"
"We can't have that now can we?" I unbutton my hospital gown, which by the way has the button on the front, and get ready to feed Shane. "Come here sweetie"
Tristan hands Shane over to me with a smile and no sooner have I gotten him before he finds his goal.
"I'm thinking he is going to be his father's son".
"You say so?"
"Mmm"
Tristan pretends to contemplate what I just said as he sits down next to us on the bed putting one arm around my shoulders and playfully eyeing Shane.
"Now when you mention it I can see some resemblances."
Our conversation is brought to a halt when Shane decides he's done and needs burping.
"Tris, can you put that towel over my shoulder please?"
"Sure"
After the towel being put in place I hoist Shane over my shoulder, patting his back until I hear the burping sound I'm sure will be a familiar one in the Dugrey/Gilmore household for months to come. Burped and satisfied Shane settle down in my arms as Tristan reposition himself beside me complete with arm on my shoulder again and I lean into him putting my head on his shoulder. Content we watch our son laying peacefully in my arms gripping one of Tristan fingers.
"I love you Tristan Dugrey"
"And I love you Lorelai Leigh Gilmore and you too Shane Tristan Gilmore. It's strange ya know he is just a couple of hours old and I can't imagine life without him.
"I know. So did you call everyone?"
"Yeah, your parents are on their way, your mom will probably be here first though and I was thinking".
"Never a good sign".
"Nice to hear you got your energy back. As I was saying and this I never thought I would say in a million years but I owe it to my family to tell them in person about this little guy. Even though I will never forgive them I need to do this for me cuz if I'm going to be the father Shane deserves I have to move on, leave all this crap behind me and in order to do so I need to give them at least a chance to be a part of Shane's life and the sooner I do this the better".
"I agree and I think you telling them in person is a good idea but isn't it a bit early for a visit?"
"Nah, my parents are early rises because that way they don't need to spend anymore time at home than necessary. Guess I'll finally show my dad I have some spine".
"Sometimes I wonder how you turned out to be so great with parents like that".
"Because of you Rory. You showed me love is worth the risk and I'm going to spend the rest of my life being the best husband and father I can be to show you just how much you mean to me",
"Wow that is the sweetest thing you or anyone else has ever said to me".
"It's the truth".
He leans in kissing me but our moment is cut short by my mom.
"Where is my grandchild?", she comes in screaming.
"Hold your horses mom he is right here".
"HE? And the tradition is broken".
"Tris, you didn't tell her?", I ask confused.
"I didn't get a chance, she hung up on me":
"I see. Mom meet Shane, Shane this is your crazy grandmother Lorelai", I make the introductions before letting mom hold him.
"OMG he is so adorable", mom immediately starts gushing but being who she is she isn't stopping at that." Now Shane follow grandma's finger, Coffee is good, coffee is your friend, coffee is your favourite drink, you want coffee nooooow", she tries to hypnotize him.
"Lorelai stop brainwashing my son", Tristan jokingly says taking him back from mom.
"Hey no fair", she pouts.
"Ok, I better get out of here before things get ugly. I should be back in a couple of hours":
"Ok".
Tristan hands Shane back and gives me a passionate kiss.
"Ah parent present"
"Make that parents", dad says as he casually strolls in like we weren't fighting and hadn't seen each other for months.
"Love you", Tristan whispers in my ear again and ignoring my parents he plants another kiss on my lips this time lighter and one on our baby boys forehead before straightening up.
"I love you too Tris", I answer with a smile of my own matching his.
"Hello Mr Hayden", Tristan greets my dad all the signs of happiness displayed on his face a minute ago being replace by seriousness.
My dad doesn't exactly improve the situation by just acknowledging Tristan presence with a nod and I can see how much that hurts him but for the time being he swallows it.
"Ok, I'm out of here. Oh and don't let Lorelai hold him again without being mouth folded first".
"Hey!" mom tries to slap him playfully but he ducks out of her reach just in time.
"Bye, bye daddy", I say for Shane taking his hand waving at Tristan's disappearing figure before turning my attention to dad.
"Dad was that really necessary?"
"What?"
"Being a jackass to my husband":
"Since when are you so chummy with that scumbag Lore?"
"Since I got to know him and saw what Rory sees in him. And I believe our daughter asked you a question".
"It's hard to answer because I don't know what I did."
"I'll tell you what you did daddy dearest, nothing absolutely nothing, no congratulations, can I see my grandson, hell not even a hello. You treated someone that means the world to my like dirt under your shoe and guess what I'm tired of it because he doesn't deserve because he hasn't done anything to you."
"HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING! HOW ABOUT THIS!", dad gestures at me and Shane.
"Shush Chris you're waking everyone up".
"I DON'T CARE. HE KNOCKED MY DAUGHTER UP AND NOW HER WHOLE LIFE IS RUINED BECAUSE OF THIS, THIS, THIS MISTAKE!" he screams pointing at Shane.
"Don't you dare calling my son a mistake, his name is Shane. Granted he wasn't planned but either was I and I have had a damn good up brining for the most part, not that you had anything to do with it, and the things mom did wrong I won't do besides I will be able to share the responsibility with another parent. And if you can't find it in your heart to love this little innocent life and accept my husband because both of them are going to be the major part of my life I want you to walk out of that door and never come back".
"Rory, if you would just listen to me, there are still options. You're too young for this".
"Like I was Chris?"
"Lore, stay out of this".
"No I won't stand here and watch you make an ass out of yourself. It took me a long time to get pass all of this too but I did when I realized Tristan didn't use Rory for anything, actually if you can only see the love in his eyes every time he looks at her you would understand that too. He is a great guy who is making our daughter very happy and that's all I can ask of him. Granted this situation isn't ideal but this baby will be loved by its parents and grandmother. Don't you see we can't plan her life anymore than our parents could ours. Sure this isn't what I wanted for Rory but hell she is older than me and has a lot more support than I did. Furthermore if I could do it I don't have a doubt in my mind that Rory and Tristan can, now the question is if you can, accept the situation as such."
"I'm sorry but I don't think I can".
"Then you better leave"
"Rory, please think about this"
"Bye Christopher", I say coldly.
"But…"
"Just leave"
Defeated he leaves without another word and I burst out in tears. Mom hurriedly comes to my side to offer some support and just as he can sense I need to be reminded of the important things in life Shane starts moving in mom's arms.
"Hi there. You know you got a heartbreaker on your hands here right?"
"O yeah"
Mom and I sit and chat on my bed for a while like the old days before the phone interrupts us.
"Rory"
"Hi Mare"
"Tristan, how did it go?"
"Let me put it this way, do you mind sharing the Gilmore name with one more last soul?"
"Oh no what happened?"
"The old man had some papers drawn up when I got there, which he wanted me to sign to make it official I'm no longer a Dugrey but here comes the million dollar part he was willing to reconsider if I had come to my senses about not wasting my life with you and the mistake as he put it. Needless to say I refused and was out of there. I don't think we will be seeing them anytime soon".
"Wow, you think they joined forces with my father to gang up on us?"
"I take it, it didn't go well then".
"No. He basically said the same things as your father but on the plus note, you've won mom over. She really stood up for you, us today".
"See I knew she was going to wise up".
"I'll be sure to pass that on".
"Listen I gotta go but I should be back in half an hour".
"Ok see ya then".
"Yeah bye".
After we hang up Shane starts fussing in mom's arms.
"I think someone is hungry".
"Are you kidding me? I just fed him".
"Get use to it babe".
I take Shane back and place him at a breast and behold he eagerly eats.
"On that note I need to leave. You might have gotten out of the Friday night dinners but I haven't so I need to go home and prepare for tonight. Besides it's an excellent opportunity to show both your grandparents and Stars Hollow the picture".
"What picture?"
"This", mom quickly takes a snapshot of me with Shane breastfeeding.
"Hey no fair".
"Like I care", and with those words mom is out the door.
Later on when I have finished feeding and burping Shane and finally gotten him to sleep peacefully I take a look at the clock and realize it's over an hour since Tristan called. However I don't have time to dwell on that fact because out of nowhere two policemen appear.
"I'll never forget what they said to me. Mrs Dugrey we regret to inform you that Mr Dugrey was involved in a car accident tonight and I'm afraid he didn't make it. It's strange how one sentence can change your life. Those words certainly did for me. All of the sudden I went from happy to numb. I must have passed out because the next thing I remember is being in my mom's arms".
By the time Rory finishes her cheeks are wet from all the tears she is shedding and Paris moves to her and pulls her in for a hug. Rory buries her head on Paris's shoulder and her whole body is shaking from sobs as she is reliving that moment in time over and over in her head.
Finally she calms down enough to talk again.
"The only relief is that he didn't suffer. They said he died instantly", Rory's voice is barely audible like the words are too painful to get out.
"You really did love him huh?"
"More than I thought possible. He was the love of my life, the father of my child, my everything. Strange how important he became in just three months time. I can't believe my son is going to grow up without a father. How I'm going to do this on my own?"
"Rory, you're not alone, I and Paris will be there and so will your mom."
"For now yeah, but what happens when school starts up again? I mean you have lives of your own and I don't want to intrude on them".
"Rory, we will help you the best we can end of story".
"Thanks you guys"
They sit quietly watching the sunrise each contemplating their loss.
TBC
Let me know what you think.
I'll try to get the epilogue up before the school work hits the fan but I'm not making any promises