Family Portrait
Author's Note: Wow, I'm on a roll ladies and gentlemen. The ideas won't stop so I got to comply with all of your many wishes that I update as soon as possible. Plus, this might be the first multiple chapter story that I get completed. Who knows, maybe I'll even finished of (what pretty I'm sure is going to be a Lit in the end) story Tale Untold. Thank you all for the reviews and if you can think up any baby names drop them in on your review. I'll be starting with that discussion in this chapter right here…
Chapter 18: The Bad News Train
Lorelai Gilmore sat on the couch in the Gilmore-Danes home, her hand on her swelling belly. Now eight months pregnant with twins she often referred to herself as an elephant. Rather, whatever is larger than an elephant. A whale, that was it. A big, fat, bloated whale and she was aching for her new son and daughter to come out into the world so she may return to the world of slim.
Heaving a sigh, she tried to reach over for the chips on the table, but instead nearly rolled over onto the floor. Glaring at the bowl, she tried to will it to move closer to her so she could reach easier.
"Here," her daughter chuckled from the seat next to her, reaching over and handing it to. Rory, although three months pregnant was looking rather well. The old spark had yet to return to the eyes of the twenty-two year old, but she had greatly improved since three months ago when she had first found herself spiraling down at breakneck speeds.
"Thank you oh wondrous first born," Lorelai praised, taking a fist full of chips into her hand before Rory replaced the bowl on the table. The Gilmore women were spending some quality time alone watching re-runs of Friends on DVD, and old movies. Liza lay asleep on the floor, having gotten too tired to keep her eyes open an hour earlier during the whole Rachel-Ross break fiasco.
Looking down at her granddaughter, Lorelai smiled. She was going to have another little girl to raise. "How about Lorelai?" She asked Rory, popping some chips into her mouth.
"Mom, you do realize that my name is Lorelai, right?" Rory asked her mother, taking a sip of the orange juice in her hands.
"So?" she inquired, trying to determine what her daughter's point was.
"You can't name both of your daughters Lorelai," Rory explained, "You've already passed the name on to me, and I passed it to Liza. The next Lorelai Gilmore will be Liza's daughter."
"Bah," Lorelai grumbled, "Who made up these rules."
"It's common sense," Rory sighed, and reached over plucking a chocolate bar up from the table.
"Fine," Lorelai gave in, so that was one less name that she could use. "How about I name the twins Ross and Rachel?"
"You're going to name them after characters from a TV show?" Rory raised her brow, "Mom."
"What?" Lorelai sat up, looking incredulously at her; "It would be so cool! And you can name your kid after one of them too! Phoebe or Monica or Joey or Chandler! Then, when you have more kids they'll all be named after them!"
"You're insane," Rory shook her head. Breaking the bar of chocolate and handing half over to her mother.
"Well, do you have any better suggestion?" she asked her all-knowing daughter. After eight months of pregnancy, and six months of knowing the sex of both babies, neither she nor Luke had come any closer to deciding on names for the twins.
"How about Emmalee?" her daughter offered, tucking some of her chestnut curls behind her ear, "Spelt E double M, L, double E?"
"Too close to the name of you-know-who," Lorelai vetoed, shaking her head, "Although if yours is another girl I'm sure my mother would throw a party if you named her that."
"Would naming the girl after grandma be so bad?" the younger Lorelai asked, "I mean, we love grandma."
"You love my mother," she corrected, "I tolerate her. Oh! Breakfast Club!"
"What?" scrunching up her nose, Rory looked at her mother as if she were insane. Glancing back at the TV she surveyed what was happening on the current episode of Friends.
"Let's watch the Breakfast Club!" Pushing herself off of the couch, Lorelai wobbled over to the DVD Player and stopped their current selection, rifling through her and Luke's collection of DVDs to find her latest craved flick.
"Mom, I've got to go," Rory was already up off the couch and heading to her jacket, grabbing Liza's while she was over and gently putting it on her daughter so she wouldn't get cold during the short walk through the light falling snow to the car.
"What are you talking about?" Lorelai exclaimed, "You can't go yet! You should sleep over!"
"Mom, I can't," Rory reasoned, "Tristan is picking me up tomorrow morning bright and early for our appointment. We're finding out the sex of the baby."
"Can't he come get you here?" Lorelai begged, "It's been so long since we had a Gilmore sleep over."
"Maybe next time," Rory negotiated, "After the twins are born and you're in dire need of a break from the screaming of babies and late-night feedings."
"Fine," Lorelai pouted and went over to give her daughter a hug. She laughed at how awkward it was with her large belly, Rory's barely visible one, and Liza in between them. "Take care oh offspring of mine."
"You know I will," she called back to her as she walked out the door. Closing the door behind Rory, Lorelai went over to the window to watch her daughter put Liza in the car before getting in herself and driving off.
She had a funny feeling about this, a feeling a mother got when something bad was about to happen. Trying not to read too much into it, she went to her son's room and watched him sleep a moment. Her hand rested on her belly, rubbing it gently. In a month's time she'd be juggling raising three young kids and her adult daughter.
Her mind stayed with Rory though, waiting for her call to tell her that she was home and safe. That Liza was tucked safely into bed, Rory's or her own, and that Rory herself was crawling under the covers. As was habitual between the mother-daughter duo, they would talk until one of them could hardly keep their eyes open. Rory would tell her how Tristan had left a message on the answering machine, or how she found a note in her pocket from Jess that he'd slipped in while they were at the diner.
Lorelai wasn't sure how her daughter was dealing with her feelings for either of the young men. In fact, she wasn't sure she was dealing at all. Her daughter was confused and she could understand that. Really, she hoped that Rory would be able to follow her heart and choose who she really loved. Choose whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Raise her children twenty-four seven, and have other children with. She knew whom she thought Rory should be with, but either way she knew both young men loved her more than words could tell.
(On the Highway, Rory's car)
The snow was beginning to fall slightly heavier and Rory's vision was beginning to become more obscured. Right now she half wished she had stayed home with her mother and avoided the bad road conditions, but it was too late to turn back now. She was already half way home to the apartment in New Haven and looking forward to going to sleep in her own bed.
Glancing in her review mirror, she saw that Liza was still sound asleep. She was so much like her father; Rory had noticed that lately. When Jess slept, which was rare for Jess, he slept like a rock. Hardly anything could disturb his sleep, much like his daughter. Rory wondered if she would grow out of that phase, or whether it was something that would stick with her throughout her life.
Turning her eyes back to the road, she thought of the day that loomed ahead. Tristan was going to stop by the apartment early, and they would go for breakfast before going to the doctor so that they could find out if the baby was healthy and whether it was a girl or a boy. Secretly, Rory was hoping for another girl.
Reaching over, Rory turned up the volume of the radio a little bit more, letting the late night music fill the car. It was loud enough to be enjoyed, but not loud enough to disturb the sleeping four-year-old in the back seat. Leaning over, she found the CD she had been addicted to lately and slid it into the CD player of the car, but she was surprised when instead of a relatively new band's hit song, 'One Line' by PJ Harvey began to play instead. She chuckled to herself, realizing that Tristan must've done it the last time they were in her car together.
Letting the lyrics wash over her Rory kept her eyes peeled on the road. Then, out of nowhere she heard the squealing of tires as a bright light shone in her eyes. The last thing Rory saw was the sleeping figure of her four-year-old daughter before everything went black.
(At that same time, Tristan's Apartment, Boston)
Tristan DuGray sat in the dark kitchen of his apartment alone, waiting for the clock to change to eleven o'clock. It had become a tradition that he call Rory at this time, every second Thursday, when he knew the she would be on her way home from movie night with her mother. He knew her routine when she got home from the mother-daughter evening. She would put Liza to bed, had she come with her, and then check her messages before calling Lorelai to tell her she had arrived. He never worried about waking Paris and Jamie, he knew that the newly reunited couple expected the call and had now grown accustomed to ignoring it.
Toying with the phone in his hands, Tristan found his mind clouded over with thoughts of Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, his Mary. Sometimes, he wondered why he was waiting around for her as long as he was. Sure, she was carrying his baby but whether or not he was with her it wouldn't affect his being present in his child's life. Then, a vision of her face flashed in his mind, a snippet of a conversation he'd had with her and he remembered.
Rory Gilmore had always been the one who got away in his mind. She was the girl he knew he would never forget, she was the girl he wished more than anything would marry him. Since that first day she arrived at Chilton Tristan had found himself falling hard for the blue eyed Gilmore girl who was one of few who refused to be charmed by his good looks. He had begun to live for their witty repartee; her pretending that she hated him.
His mind drifted back to that night at Madeleine's part, a night he had dreamed of much since it happened. Her sitting down by the piano, both of them scorned by their former "lovers". Tristan could never understand why bag boy had let Rory go all because she couldn't say three simple words to him. They had kissed that night and it was everything he had imagined it would be and more, until she ran away crying.
He understood why he waited around for Rory to decide whom she wanted to be with; hell he understood why Jess was waiting around for her too. It was all about Rory Gilmore and what she managed to do to them. How she made their lives feel worthwhile when she was with them. Tristan was pretty sure he wasn't going to find another girl like his Mary anywhere. The only thing he wished was that she would feel the same about him, and that she would realize that she didn't want to be with any other man than him.
The blaring of the telephone in his hands alarmed Tristan, and he found himself nearly jumping out of his own skin. Frowning slightly, he wondered who in the world would be calling at this time. Certainly not Rory, and definitely not anyone that her knew. Getting a hold of himself he answered the phone, "Hello?"
"Tristan," it was Paris; she sounded frazzled and worried.
"Paris?" he could tell something was wrong, he felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach. God, don't let something be wrong with her, he begged silently.
"Tristan…it's Rory…" she told him, "There's been an accident."
(On the road, Paris and Jamie's car.)
Paris sat in the passenger's seat of the car, Jamie had insisted that he do the driving given Paris' state. Her arms were wrapped around herself as she stared out the window at the snow falling. The roads were bad, but Jamie was taking them slow. Already there had been one accident, but Paris had refused to stay home and wait until morning. She had to get the hospital, had to find out what was going on.
Replaying the start of the horrific night in her head, Paris continued to stare blankly out the window. She hadn't been able to sleep, not since she woke up and found the falling snow. Knowing that Gilmore was out there, likely driving home was enough to keep her up. A funny feeling at taken over and she'd gotten up and made herself coffee. For as long as she could remember, she'd been like this. Even when she was little and her parents were out late on a stormy night; she wouldn't be able to sleep until they were home and safe.
When the phone rang, Paris figured it was Tristan making his usual Thursday night call to Rory. She'd grown accustomed to leaving the phone ring since he'd first started the ritual, and so she waited until the answering machine beeped and to hear Tristan's voice. Tonight, she'd thought about answering it and talking with him awhile. Maybe just to ease the gut feeling she'd gotten waking up. Instead, she let it ring, let the answering machine pick up the call.
It hadn't been Tristan calling though. The slow, calm voice of the man on the other line haunted Paris with her word. "Ms. Gellar, I regret to inform you that there's been an accident. Your roommate Lorelai Leigh Gilmore…" That statement played over and over in her head. "There's been an accident." It was the same words she repeated to Lorelai not to second later, what she had told Tristan when she'd called him right after, and what she was sure Lorelai had told Luke, Jess, Lane and Dave.
They were all on the way to the hospital now, all on the way to find out what was happening with Rory. Paris prayed silently that her best friend was going to be all right. That poor Liza was going to be all right too. The doctor hadn't told her much on the phone, only that they'd found Rory's wallet and that this was the first number they had come across.
"I can't tell you anything about Ms. Gilmore or her daughter's conditions. You're not family, and procedure calls that I don't divulge such information over the phone." Those had been the kind doctor's words, and Paris wanted to scream at the man. Procedure calls, you're not family, she thought he was a real hypocrite that doctor. They were Family. Her, Jamie, Lane, Dave, they were all a part of the extended Gilmore family. How many times had Lorelai insisted on that fact? Too many to count, that was certain.
"Jamie…" Paris looked over to her boyfriend. They were working things out slowly, deciding what they were going to do with their lives. Neither of them wanted to jump right back into where they had been after the fight. She was glad he was here though, she couldn't do this without him here.
"She's going to be all right Paris," Jamie assured her, and reached over putting a hand over her own. His eyes didn't leave the road though, and Paris was thankful. Right now, she didn't want him to see her crying.
(Waiting Room at the Hospital, Hartford.)
Lorelai paced around the lobby. Nurses kept coming over to her, asking if she wanted anything, telling her to sit down and not to stress too much. "You don't want to induce labor," they kept telling her. If one more nurse approached her, she was ready to jump down their throats.
No one would tell her what was going on with her daughter and granddaughter or where they were. She guessed it was because she was eight months pregnant, there were probably rules against telling a pregnant woman bad news. Luke was off getting her coffee, prepared to break his coffee ban on her at a time like this, at a time when she was waiting to find out what had happened to her daughter. If her and her unborn grandchild, if little Liza were okay.
Jess was over by the counter, had been there ever since he had first arrived. Demanding that the nurse tell him the condition of his daughter and Rory, telling them that if they didn't tell him now he was going to go and look for them to find out himself. Lorelai watched him out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he was getting any further in his attempts.
The feeling she had gotten in the pit of her stomach when Rory had walked out of the house still hadn't left and she finally plopped down on a chair in the waiting room and buried her head in her hands. Rory had to be all right. She just had to be.
Luke came back, putting his hand on the back of her neck and handing her a cup of freshly brewed coffee. She forced a smile, and he wiped away some of her tears. Christopher was beside him, and Lorelai wondered when he hand arrived. Putting the coffee on a table beside her, she wrapped her arms around Chris and enveloped him in a hug. She was glad he was here, it was comforting knowing that he was here for her and for Rory.
"Lorelai!" Jamie and Paris had walked into the waiting room. Paris' eyes were rimmed with red, but it was slowly fading. Lorelai's best guess was she'd cried all the way over, and now in front of all these people she was going to shut herself down.
"Any news?" Paris wondered, leaning into Jamie who had his arm around his girlfriend.
"No," she shook her head and rubbed her belly. Trying to force back the tears that were rising to her eyes now. Her daughter could very well be fighting for her life, and she had no idea.
"Tristan called while we were pulling in," Paris mumbled, "He should be here soon."
"Lane and Dave too," Lorelai nodded, sniffling, "And my parents."
Jess approached them then; apparently having gotten no where but almost kicked out of the hospital. Sighing in defeat he took a seat in on of the chairs and proceeded to stair at the doors ahead of them. "A doctor should be with us soon," he grumbled, running a hand through his hair.
Lorelai took a seat again, taking a sip of her first real coffee in months. She wasn't enjoying it though; the hot caffeinated beverage she worshipped didn't seem as good in a hospital where he daughter had been brought in by an ambulance. A hospital where no one would tell her anything about what was going on.
Emily and Richard Gilmore appeared not a half-hour later, her mother had a jacket pulled over her nightgown, and her father wore his pajamas along with his winter coat. Obviously, at times like these appearance didn't matter. Lorelai looked down at herself, and couldn't help but agree. In fact, none on them sitting here right now had bothered to get changed. She managed a small laugh that merited her a disapproving glare from her mother.
"Well, we are a sight to see," Jamie offered. Lorelai smiled at Jamie, thanking him silently for lightening the mood a little by agreeing with her laugh. It made her feel a little better, not having things so morose.
Lane and Dave arrived alongside Tristan an hour or so later. Lane looked a mess, her face was tear streaked and Dave helped her walk along the waiting room to where their group sat. Throwing herself at Lorelai, the two women sobbed together. After all, they had known Rory longer and better than pretty much everyone in the room now. Rory had divulged many secrets with them, before any of the others.
Finally, the doctor approached the group and they all stood up watching him expectantly. The doctor looked tired and worn out, his clean white coat wrinkled and he had bags under his eyes.
"What's going on?" Lorelai demanded when he reached them, "Please tell me what's going on."
"How's Liza?" another voice shouted, Lorelai wasn't sure who it was, the voices were all the same in her mind as she waited for the doctor to tell her something, anything.
"Ms. Gilmore, and company," the doctor said, "If you would all please sit down I'd be more than willing to explain to you all what's going on. I'm Dr. Patterson, and I've been taking care of your daughter and granddaughter since they were brought in."
"Are they all right?" Lorelai asked, sitting down.
"Well, Lorelai Elizabeth, or Liza as I'm guessing you call her was sleeping at the time of the accident," the doctor began, "A drunk driver hit them, although I wouldn't be surprised with this weather if the man was completely sober. Now, Liza sustained some injuries, but mostly just scrapes and bruises. She had to have a couple of stitches though, but right now she's sleeping again. You can go see her later, but only one at a time considering visiting hours are over."
"And Rory?" Lane squeaked.
"Rory received a strong blow to her head," The doctor spoke calmly, "She was unconscious when they found her and slipped in and out on the way to the hospital. Her arm is broken, but it's not too bad. We feared there might be some internal bleeding, so we're monitoring her carefully."
"And the baby?" Lorelai glanced as Tristan as he spoke those words. She saw the fear in his eyes that the child he was already growing attached to was dead because of some stupid drunk driver.
"Right now, we're not certain what's going to happen," the doctor told them truthfully, "Until we're sure that Rory's in the clear we can't be sure if the baby's going to be all right or not. They're both stable at the time being, but if there's internal bleeding or if Rory begins to slip again they're both going to be fighting for their lives."
"But they're all right?" Chris wanted to know, "They're all right now?"
"At the time being, yes," Dr. Patterson nodded, "Rory's still unconscious though, so if any of you would like to see her you'll only be allowed one at a time. These are critical hours, if she doesn't wake up soon…"
"We know," Luke sighed, and looked down at his wife, "You want to go see her first?" She nodded and then Jess stood up.
"I want to see Liza." Dr. Patterson nodded and led Lorelai and Jess away. The rest of the group looked around at each other, they were relieved to finally have news of what was going on, but they couldn't help but worry about Rory and the baby still.
Emily excused herself to get some coffee, while Richard, Dave, and Jamie went down to find the gift shop to get some things for themselves to eat that wasn't hospital food and to get something for Rory and Liza as well.
Tristan, Paris and Lane stayed behind in the waiting room, all silently glancing at each other. Lane looked worse out of them all physically, while both Tristan and Paris struggled to keep composed. They hated to wish this on someone else, but they wished it would've. They would all trade places with Rory if they could. She did not deserve something like this to happen to her. Not after everything they'd been through.
Sticking his hand into his pocket, Tristan toyed with the velvet box he carried with him wherever he went ever since he found out Rory was pregnant. He was ready to ask her to marry him whenever she was ready to hear him, if she was ever ready to hear him. Running a hand through his hair he glanced up and saw Jess approaching them.
"How's she doing?" Lane sniffled, looking up at Jess.
"She's all right," he shrugged, sitting down across from Tristan, "She was sleeping, but she looked okay. She's got three stitches here…" Jess put his hand to the corner of his forehead, where his hairline was. "She's got some bruises but the doctor said it could've been worse had she not been sleeping."
"Do you think…" Lane trailed off as everyone's gaze shifted over onto the petite Korean girl. She was refering to Rory now, and they all knew it.
"She's a fighter," Jess responded, "She's not going to give up." Then, he looked over at Tristan, "And she's not going to lose that baby either."
"God, I hope not," Tristan breathed. Then, he sat back and waited for Lorelai to come back and tell them what else was happening. He wanted to go see her next, but he was willing to wait. After all, he had to prepare himself for what he was going to say even though she was unconscious he had heard they could still hear you.
He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but he didn't want to sound like an idiot doing it. The last thing he wanted was to sound like an idiot in front of Rory Gilmore.