A/N: Once again sorry that it took me so long to update. School is crazy at the time and I haven't much time to do other things. I read half an hour in the morning and that's it. Took my laptop with my last Wednesday to write, and wrote about a page and a half, and the planning was to finish in the weekend. Didn't really worked out, so I had to take my laptop to school at the beginning of the week so I could finish the chapter. Afterwards I immediately send it to my beta, and she is so fast! So thanks again LorelaiAkaCoffeeAddict, I appreciate your help so much!
To all of you, thank you so much for all those wonderful reviews, I've never seen so many reviews at once, you guys are amazing! Someone asked me how you pronounce Lucan: It's Lu-can. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter as well, and I'd be very happy if you let me know ;) Chapter 24 Going home, visitors & conversations

Chapter 24 Going home, visitors & conversations

The next morning they were allowed to take Lucan home. Of course, not after both the baby and Lorelai were seen by a doctor. They were both declared healthy, and there was no reason to stay in the hospital. They signed the release forms and made sure the baby was dressed warmly, before they walked towards the parking lot.

The drive home was quiet. Lucan was sleeping in his car seat, and Lorelai enjoyed watching her son. Luke focussed on the road, but just had to look at the backseat of the car occasionally.

Lorelai smiled as she noticed this. She knew Luke was going to be a good father. She never ever doubted that. And a little gesture like this proved that she was right.

"What are you thinking?" Luke noticed she was staring at him.

"Just enjoying the view."

"Huh?"

"I was thinking how much I like what I'm seeing. The way you glance at him."

"Oh..." He felt a little caught.

"It's cute Luke."

"Oh…"

"You're repeating yourself." She smiled. "Don't feel embarrassed. Maybe you don't like the word cute, but it's just the way you look at him. So proud…" She found it hard to explain so she simply said. "I love you."

He glanced at her. "I love you, too." Then he drew his attention back to the road.

Lorelai was quiet again as well. She enjoyed the silence. She wondered what it would be like to come home. She hoped there wouldn't be to many people on the street, so they could spent a nice quiet day at home, but living in Stars Hallow that would probably not work out that way. Although, being married to Luke was probably a good help. She was pretty sure he would kick them all out, and tell them not to come back until next week or so. She smiled at the thought.

She couldn't help but wish Rory was there. The nurse that helped them with the checking out had asked her how it felt to finally go home as a family. But her family wasn't complete. She couldn't bring herself to tell that to the nurse, and let it go, but the question kept hanging around in the back of her mind. When she looked at her son she didn't want time to go by fast, because she knew he wouldn't stay this small for long. He would grow so fast and learn new things. This stage won't last long. The stage where all he does is sleep and cry and eat… and well, you know. After a few weeks he would start smiling and growing and before you realize it he will be 18 and leaving for college. When she thought about Rory she didn't know where time went. It was like one day she was in the hospital giving birth, and the next day she was leaving for college, all grown up. Of course it hadn't been easy all the time, but it was just that time went by so fast.

She wanted Lucan to stay small for as long as possible, but that was a wish not to be fulfilled. Especially because on the other hand she wanted time to go by fast, so it would be June and Rory could come home.

Lost in her thoughts, Lorelai didn't noticed that they were home, until she felt that the car wasn't moving anymore.

"You're ready to go inside?" Luke asked.

"You bet." She tried hard to smile. Luke noticed this.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Lorelai."

"Please, can we go inside? Babette will be running over here if we stay here too long."

He nodded and stepped out of the car, walking around it to get the carrier from the backseat. He opened Lorelai's door when she didn't do that herself. He held out his hand and she took it. Hand in hand they walked towards their front door. Luke had to let go of Lorelai's hand to get the keys from his pocket. At the same moment they heard Babette's voice. "Hey sugar. You're home."

Lorelai sighed softly, so Babette wouldn't noticed. Then she turned around. "Yes, we are."

"Oh, the baby. Let me see. Is it a boy or a girl? Why haven't you called me yesterday? I heard you went to the hospital but nobody told us anything. We didn't even know if you were alright"

"We're fine Babette, just very tired. The baby is a boy and his name is Lucan."

"That's a beautiful name sugar."

"Thanks Babette. If you don't mind we're going inside now. The baby will wake up soon and he will be very hungry."

"Of course. We wouldn't want him to start crying and all."

"No, we wouldn't want that to happen."

"See you later sugar."

"See you later Babette." She watched how Babette walked away, than turned around to face Luke. "Let's get inside before anyone else sees us."

"Good thinking." He kissed her before they walked inside.

Luke put the carrier on the floor. Then went outside to get the bags from the car. Lorelai helped the still sleeping baby out of his jacket. It didn't even wake him up. She took off her own jacket afterwards and sat down on the couch, watching her son. Again she was lost in thoughts, this time about when she first came home with Rory. She didn't even noticed that Luke sat down next to her.

"Lorelai." He placed his hand on her knee. "What's going on? You seem very distracted."

She looked up at his touch. "What?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just tired."

"Lorelai." He sighed.

"Really it's nothing." She stood up and tried to walk away, but he took her wrist and pulled her back to the couch.

"What's wrong?" He asked again, his voice even softer this time.

"Nothing really, I swear." She looked away.

"You're distracted. You've been distracted since we left the hospital. You didn't even noticed we were home until I parked the car on the driveway. I know you and I know that you're tired, but there's something else going on as well."

"Before we left the hospital a nurse told me that it must feel really great to finally go home as a family."

"Oh Lorelai." He took her hands in his.

"It's just so weird. On the one hand I'm very happy to come home as a family, but my family isn't complete without Rory. And I was thinking how I want the time to go fast because I want my family to be complete. But on the other hand I don't want time to go fast at all because he'll stay this small only for a short time and I want to enjoy that time. It's just so weird, and I don't know what I want to feel and it makes me feel guilty both ways."

"I understand, but you shouldn't feel guilty."

"I know that, but it's just so hard. I really wish she was here right now." Her eyes filled with tears. "Look at me, now I even start crying. I don't want that Luke. I just want to enjoy having him home with us, and I want to be happy. I don't want to cry. I can't cry anymore. I don't want to."

He took her in his strong arms and held her tight. "It's okay." He whispered. "You can cry." At the same moment Lucan started to cry. Lorelai pulled back and started laughing. Luke wiped away here tears and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too." She stood up and picked up the baby. "Why are you crying? You must be a little hungry. Let's get you cleaned up and give you something to eat. What do you think about that?" She turned to Luke. "Let's take him upstairs."

Luke nodded in response and followed Lorelai upstairs towards the nursery.

An hour or so later the doorbell rang. Luke was downstairs flipping channels, Lorelai was upstairs taking a rest. Lucan was asleep next to her in the big bed.

Luke walked towards the door, and found Richard and Emily on the other side. They both shook his hand and congratulated him before going inside. They handed their jackets to Luke, and walked towards the living room. Luke entered a few seconds later.

"Lorelai is upstairs, taking a rest."

"Oh…" Emily replied.

"I'll go upstairs and see if she's awake. I'll be right back."

Emily nodded in response.

Upstairs, Lorelai was laying on her side, watching the baby sleep. "Hey," Luke said as he entered their bedroom.

"Hey." She looked up. "Was that the doorbell?"

"Yes, your parents are here."

"Oh…"

"Do you want me to send them up here for a little while? I think it's more comfortable than you coming downstairs."

"Yes, as long as they won't stay too long." She smiled.

"I'm sure they won't."

Luke went back downstairs to get the grandparents. "Lucan is asleep, but Lorelai is awake. You can go upstairs, than I'll go to the kitchen and make you guys some coffee."

"Okay." Both Emily and Richard ascended the stairs. They opened the door to the bedroom softly, afraid to wake up their grandson. Lorelai smiled when her parents walked into the room.

Both Emily and Richard kissed their daughters cheek to congratulate her. Than they took a chair and sat down next to the bed. "Luke is making some coffee."

"Okay." Lorelai nodded. "So, what do you think?" She pointed to the baby.

"He's beautiful." Emily replied.

"Thanks. He ate about half an hour ago and fell asleep afterwards, but if you want, you can hold him."

"I'd like that." Emily smiled.

Lorelai lifted the baby carefully and handed him to Emily. "Here you go. Meet your grandmother."

"Hey little guy." She looked at the baby carefully. "He's doesn't look anything like you as a baby."

"No, I saw a baby picture of Luke once, he looks a lot more like him, although I do see a little bit of Rory in him as well. You can see they are siblings."

"He's so small" Richard said.

"Yes he is." She looked at her son.

"Did everything go okay, with the delivery and all?" Emily asked.

"Yes, it was so fast. I mean, with Rory it took me forever, but with him, I'm still surprised. I was dilated about 6 centimetres already when we arrived at the hospital and things went so fast after that. Before I realized it they brought me into the delivery room and a little after that he was here."

"Uhuh…" Richard replied, not really sure what to say. He just stared at his grandson again.

"Why did you wait so long to get to the hospital? Emily looked at her daughter.

"Excuse me?"

"If you were dilated for 6 centimetres when you arrived there, what took you so long?"

"I started having contractions in the morning, but they were very soft and I didn't want to go to the hospital when nothing was really happening. So I slept upstairs for a while. Luke came upstairs later and we picked out a name for this little guy. I didn't wanted to risk naming the kid after myself again, and we never got to agree on a name before. After a while the contractions came more frequent and were more serious so we went to the hospital. Like I said, it just went really fast. Before I knew it they lay the baby on my stomach."

"I still think it's irresponsible that you waited that long, to go to the hospital when you were having contractions already."

"Oh please, I don't want to get into this. I went to the hospital when I thought it was right. And I was dilated for 6 centimetres. If it had been 10 you could have complained, but not now mom. Everything went fine. We're both healthy and I think that's all that matters."

"But..." At the same moment Luke walked into the room so Emily stopped talking. He put the 2 coffee and 2 tea cups on the nightstand.

"Hey Luke?"

"Yes Lorelai." He looked at his wife.

"Why are there only 2 cups of coffee?"

"You really want to get into this again?"

She sighed and knew it was useless. "So tea huh."

"As long as your breastfeeding my son, yes." He sat down on the bed next to her. "So, what do you think?" He looked at Emily.

"Lorelai says he looks like you as a baby."

"Oh, I don't know about that." He looked a little shy.

"Neither do I, I never saw a picture of you as a baby. But he doesn't look like Lorelai so she might be right."

"I guess so."

"So have you heard from Rory?" Richard decided to change the subject.

"We called her yesterday, but it was late so we didn't talk that long."

"She's still doing great I assume?"

"Yeah, well, she is Rory of course."

"What did she say when you told her about him?" Emily looked curious.

"She was very enthusiastic. Started jumping up and down. She's sad that she can't see him until June. She's really looking forward to meet her little brother. We promised to e-mail her some pictures today. We're going to make a few later and send them to her. Hey Luke, maybe you can get the camera so we can make a picture from him with his grandmother."

"Okay." Luke went downstairs to get the camera.

"So she's happy?"

"Of course. She was really looking forward to this. She doubted about going to England because of him, but I told her that it would be better for her to go. She really wanted this so she had to follow her dreams."

"You'll see her again soon."

"Yeah, I guess so." Lorelai didn't felt like getting in the same conversation she had with Luke earlier again so she left it there. Lucky for her, Luke came back with the camera so they could start making pictures. He took a few of Emily and Lucan first and than she handed Lucan to Richard so Luke could make a few pictures of them together as well.

After the pictures were taken he handed the baby back to Lorelai. He was still asleep. "See Luke, he really looks like you. You can sleep trough everything as well." Lorelai smiled.

"He's just a baby. From what I've heard they change a lot so it's really hard to say if he looks more like you than he looks like me, although I hope he didn't get a few of your habits."

"Such as?"

"Nothing, never mind."

"I thought so." A big smile appeared on Lorelai's face.

About an hour later Lucan started to wake up. "I guess we should leave now."

"You don't have to leave." Lorelai replied politely but hoped that her parents left anyway.

"No, he needs to eat and you have to eat soon as well. And so do we, and we still have to drive all the way to Hartford."

"Okay. Well, it was very nice of you to stop by."

"Of course. We really wanted to meet our grandson." She looked at Luke. "You're fathers name was William right?"

'Oh boy, there we go..' Lorelai thought. She glanced at Luke and saw he didn't really know what to say. "We were talking about how sorry we were that Luke's father could never meet his grandson, and we thought that when we named him after him, they were connected in some way. I mean, dad can see him grow up, play with him, do grandfather things with him and he will never meet Luke's father. All we can do is show him pictures."

"But your father would have loved it if you named his grandson after him as well."

"We know that, but we wanted to follow tradition."

"What kind of tradition?"

"Tradition says you have to name your firstborn son after the fathers father. And the second son you name after the mothers father. So if we'll someday get another son, we'll name him after dad."

"Since when do you follow tradition? You named your daughter after yourself."

"Well, that was 21 years ago mom. I was sixteen at the time. I was in labour for all those hours and I thought that I would break the tradition and name my daughter after me instead of the father. But in Luke's family it's tradition to name your son after your father. He is named after his grandfather himself. We thought it would be nice to keep that tradition. We just didn't want to call him William all the time so we broke the tradition there and named him Lucan."

"I still think you could have named him after your father as well."

"I guess that was our decision to make. I knew that you would react this way but honestly I don't care. He's my son and I can name him whatever I want, and honestly I don't care what you think."

"How can you say that?" Emily was the first to raise her voice. Until this moment they both had kept their voices low, but she was so angry. Who did Lorelai think she was? She had no idea how much this hurt her father.

"Mom, keep your voice down. There is a baby in the room and it's a little early for him to meet the real you." Lorelai kept her voice low.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emily grew more angry at the second.

"Oh mom come on. The last few months have been great. We could be in the same room and actually have a good time, but that has been different for all those years previous to this one. You helped me with my wedding which I'm very grateful about, but now you are falling back in your old pattern just because Luke and I decided not to name our son after his dad."

"I can't believe you are saying this. Why do you always think I'm such a bad person?" She still didn't listen to Lorelai and her voice became louder and louder, causing the baby to start crying.

"Mom please, I don't want to get into this again. You're upsetting the baby. It's best if you leave now. I'll call you later."

"Lorelai, you can't tell me to leave."

"Yes she can." Luke decided to interfere. "You should leave now."

Richard stood up and took his wife's hand in his. "Come on, we're leaving. The baby is starting to get hungry, and we have a dinner party to attend tonight. Maybe, if you ask politely, Lorelai will e-mail the pictures to us as well, so you can show of your grandson at the party."

That seemed to calm Emily down and she questionably looked at Lorelai, who nodded in response.

"I'll walk you out." Luke walked into the hallway. Emily followed him immediately but Richard stayed behind.

"Lorelai, I want you to know that I'm not upset about this. I agree with you here. It's your choice what your sons name is, and it is a really nice name. And your right about the tradition. That's why I named you after my mother."

"Thanks dad."

"I'm really proud of you Lorelai. I love you"

"Thanks dad. I love you too"

"Okay. I'm going after your mother now. You know how she gets when you make her wait."

"I do. Bye dad."

"Bye Lorelai." Lorelai watched her father leave the room and got up herself. She picked up the baby who was still a little fussy. Together they walked towards the nursery where Lorelai started to change his diaper. She heard Luke ascend the stairs again and enter the room a few seconds later. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Hey, maybe you can get the camera so we can take a few pictures of him in here."

"Sure."

A few seconds later he returned with the camera and took a few pictures.

"Can you carry him back to our room?"

"Sure", he handed her the camera so he could pick up the baby. He lifted towards his chest and started walking.

"Wait…"

"What?"

"Stop right there." She took a few pictures of Luke and Lucan. "Okay, thanks." She started walking towards her bedroom, and a confused Luke followed her. There, he took a few pictures of her and the baby before she started feeding him.

After he was done they took him to his own room so he could sleep quietly. Both Luke and Lorelai went downstairs. Luke to prepare dinner, and Lorelai to send Rory an e-mail. They were both done at the same time. They took their dinner upstairs because that was a little more comfortable for Lorelai.

Around 7.30 Sookie stopped by.

"Hey sweetie, how you're doing?"

"I'm doing great!. The delivery went so fast, so different than with Rory, but they say it's always easier with a second child."

"I don't know about that. Maybe you were just lucky."

"Well, than lucky it is."

"So, a son huh."

"Yeah. He's in the nursery, you can go see him if you like. I just stay here if you don't mind."

"Okay." Sookie stood up to take a look at the newborn and came back about 5 minutes later.

"He's perfect."

"I know."

"And so small. I can't believe how fast they grow. I mean, it was such a long time ago that Davy was this small.."

"I know." She sounded a little sad.

Sookie looked at her friend and knew exactly what she was thinking so she changed the subject trying to make her friend feel better. Although, she kind of picked the wrong one. "What did your parents say?"

"First they were very nice and polite and they brought some very nice gifts. But when they were leaving my mother brought up his name, and how I could name him after Luke's father and not after mine. She was so angry."

"You're kidding?"

"Hello, we're talking about my mother here."

"Yeah, your right. What did your father say?'

"Nothing at first, but when my mother left the room he told me that he likes Lucan's name and that he isn't upset about it and that he's proud of me."

"That's nice."

"Yeah it was."

"Hey, I'll better leave now. You must be exhausted and babies are very good at keeping you up at night, so you better sleep when they sleep."

"Sounds like a plan. But uhm, how's the inn?"

"Still standing. Michel is doing a great job, and even though he complains a lot he really is very proud that he can do everything by himself now. If it were to him, you wouldn't have to come back." She laughed at her friend.

"Good to know. Although that is not going to happen. This was our dream for too long."

"I know. I can't wait to have you back, although you should enjoy your maternity leave, it will be over before you know it."

"I know, I will."

"I'll come by later this week, and bring Jackson and the kids with me. I just had to come see him myself. Couldn't wait any longer."

"That's okay. I couldn't wait to show him to you."

Sookie hugged her friend goodbye and went home.

Luke woke up in the middle of the night. First, he didn't know what woke him up, but after a few seconds he realized he heard crying coming from the baby monitor. Lorelai was asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. He carefully manoeuvred himself from underneath her, trying not to wake her up in the process. She opened her eyes though. "Shh… go back to sleep." He kissed her forehead and stepped out of bed and walked towards the nursery.

Luke still couldn't believe that the little boy lying in the crib there, was his son. Of course he knew, but still. He had waited for this moment forever. And now he was here. He wondered how it would feel to be a father. He would have loved to ask his father how it was for him, but unfortunately that wasn't possible. And he would have asked Buddy, but he and Maisy, unfortunately, were never able to get children. It was nothing like Luke expected it to be. He thought he was prepared, but the truth is he could have never been prepared for this. All the emotions he felt when he saw his son for the first time. And when Lucan had opened his little eyes, and looked at him, that was a moment he would never forget again.

He had thought that when he saw the baby was okay, his worries would go away, that he would know everything would work out for the best. Although, it was far from that. He was even more worried now. The world is so big, and the baby is so small. He looks so fragile.

He picked up the baby and cuddled him in his arms. Not to tight of course, because he was still afraid to crush him.

The baby kept crying, so Luke started walking around. He walked towards the window, and in the in the moonlight he checked his watch. It was 2.30 a.m. "Hey buddy. Why you're crying?" His voice was soft. "You can't be hungry now can you, you ate only 2 hours ago. Although, when your anything like your mother than you could be. You have to be a little quiet, or you'll wake up your mommy. Trust me, you don't want that to happen. She gets very cranky when you wake her up." The baby relaxed a little at the warm touch of his father. "That's much better." Luke smiled as the baby stared at him. He knew that the baby couldn't really see him, but that made no difference. "You don't seem tired at all. So you do look like your mother as well. She says you look just like me. But you want to look like her as well."

He kept rocking the baby. "Your mommy is such great woman and you're very lucky to have her as your mother. You also have a big sister, but she's not here right now. We send her some pictures today so she could see you. She's very anxious to meet you, you know. She's very sad that she can't be here to see you. You'll have to wait a few months, and then you'll see her. And she will love you so much. Just like I do." The baby became a little tired from the rocking. He fought hard to keep his eyes open.

Luke couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to the baby. Normally he wasn't open to anyone and it had taken him a long time before he started telling things to Lorelai.

Luke looked at his son again. He had finally lost his battle an was back asleep now. When Luke walked towards the crib, he saw Lorelai standing in the door opening.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hey."

He placed the baby back in his bed, covering him with the blanket. He lightly placed a kiss on his forehead before he walked towards Lorelai.. They stood there, watching their son in silence for a few minutes before turning around towards their bedroom. They stepped into bed, Lorelai snuggling up against Luke again.

"How long were you standing there?"

"Not so long. How long have you been up?"

"He woke up about 15 minutes ago. We had a little discussion, and he decided that he wasn't tired anymore. He fought hard to stay awake but after a while he gave in and went back to sleep."

"Smart boy."

"Well, he is my son of course. And you tell everybody he's just like me."

"Absolutely."

"We better get back to sleep, before that little boy will wake us up again."

"Good thinking."

He kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

It didn't take long before they were both asleep as well.