A/N: Sorry it took me over a week to update. School's almost over and all of you who are still in school know how busy you are at that point, and for those of you who are not anymore, try to remember those last few weeks. You have to learn test, you have to turn in all sorts of assignments, it really sucks :D Anyway, finally finished this chapter today and thanks to LorelaiAkaCoffeeAddict for proofreading so fast I was able to post it today as well. You rock girl! And thanks for all those reviews to the last chapter. You're all amazing!
Chapter 37 Surprise
The cab stopped in front of the university. "Here we are."
"Wow, it's big." Lorelai looked out of the window impressed. "Look at it Luke."
"I see it." He smiled at the excitement in Lorelai's voice. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed money to the cab driver, adding a huge tip.
"Thank you sir." He stepped out of his car to help Luke and Lorelai out. Then he walked to the back to get their luggage.
Lorelai looked at the building, still amazed.
"It's smaller than Yale."
"I know, but it's different than I excepted it to be. This building is amazing and so big. How are we going to find Rory in here?"
"I assume they have a reception here somewhere. We'll find her, I promise."
"Here are your bags sir."
"Thanks."
"Sir, I overheard you and your wife talking. My son goes to this school. I know it's weird that the son of a simple cab driver goes to a university like this but he has a scholarship. I can call him for you so he can lead you to your daughter."
"Really? That would be great."
The man picked his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. In the main time Luke walked back to Lorelai who was still staring at the building, pointing out things to Lucan.
"The cab driver is calling his son. He's going to bring us to Rory. He goes to this school."
She nodded. "I heard." She kept starring at the building.
"What's up?"
"Huh?" She turned around to face him.
"What's up Lorelai? You're worried about something."
"No I'm not. I'm just a little overwhelmed."
"She's going to love it you know."
"Who?"
"Rory. She's going to be thrilled to see you standing on her doorstep. You know that right?"
"You sure?"
"Absolutely."
The friendly cab driver put his phone in his pocket. "John will be here soon."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'm happy I can be at help."
"I don't know if John knows your daughter… but I'm sure he knows the building she's living in."
"Her name is Rory." Lorelai told the man.
"Rory. That's a beautiful name. You don't hear that a lot."
"It's short for Lorelai. I named her after me but realized it would be confusing so I went with Rory."
"John's named after my grandfather. He was a very kind and generous man. He died before John was born but I know he would have loved him."
"I'm sure he would have."
"And your son, did you name him after yourself? His name is Lucan right? And yours is Luke?"
"We didn't named him after me. We just liked the name."
"That's what he thinks." Lorelai winked.
"It doesn't matter. Your son should be proud to carry your name."
"Thank you." Luke felt a little uncomfortable again and hoped John would arrive soon. After almost five minutes he finally did.
"Hey dad."
"Hello son. These are Luke and Lorelai and they are looking for their daughter Rory."
John shook the hand of both of them. "Rory Gilmore?"
"You know her?" Lorelai sounded surprised.
"I sure do. We're taking a few classes together. Very smart girl. She's in the library at the moment, but I can take you to her dorm room and ask her to go there without letting her know you're here. I assume she doesn't know? She hasn't mentioned anything."
"She doesn't. It's a surprise." Lorelai smiled. "So you know Rory. Maybe this school isn't as big as I think it was."
Luke shook his head and turned around to get their luggage. Lorelai placed Lucan in the stroller and both of them said goodbye to the cab driver.
"Enjoy your stay in London. And if you need any transport, this is my number." He handed them his card.
"Thank you. And once again, thanks for your help."
The man nodded and stepped into his cab.
"Let's go." John picked up one of the suitcases.
"You don't have to do that. I can handle it."
"No it's fine. I insist."
"Thanks." Luke appreciated the help. When Lorelai was packing their suitcases two days ago he couldn't convince her not to bring so much stuff. He tried to argue that they were only staying for five days, but she wouldn't hear about it. She argued back that they were traveling with a baby who needed a lot of clothes and she was a woman after all. After a while Luke realized that he was fighting a battle he could never win, so he just gave up.
After walking around for over ten minutes they entered a building. "This is Rory's building. Her dorm room is on the second floor. The elevator is this way. John led them towards the elevator and pressed the button. Then he took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Rory's number. She picked up after two rings. "Hello?"
"Hey Rory, it's John."
"Hey."
"Are you still in the library?"
"Yeah, I'm reading that book I was talking about, why?"
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for lunch. You've been there for a few hours now and I though you could use a break. You know, get something to eat."
"I don't know, I really want to finish this. We have to turn in that paper the day after tomorrow."
"You've almost finished it and it's the last thing you have to do. You can take a little break. I'm sure you could use a cup of coffee."
"Coffee huh, well sure, but half an hour, no longer."
"No problem. I meet you at your dorm?"
"Yeah, ok, I'll meet you there in five minutes. Susan's there, she'll let you in. Tell her you're waiting for me."
"I will. See you soon Rory." With that he hung up. "She'll be here within five minutes. She told us to wait in her room.
"Thanks." They stepped into the elevator that had arrived in between.
Rory put the books back on the shelves and put her notes in her bag. Then she walked out of the library and towards her dorm room. She was happy John called because it wasn't until then that she realized she was hungry. While walking towards her dorm she looked around, thinking that she was almost done here and would finally go home. She had mixed feelings about it.
She missed her mother and Luke a lot, not even talking about her little brother. She knew he must have grown a lot since she had seen him last. But leaving this place would be hard too, because she really wouldn't come back here this time. Next year she's going back to Yale, which will be different, but not less fun. Warren had been accepted and would be going to Yale with her. She would see her friends again. She missed them all, even Paris. But she had friends in London too. Friends she most likely would never see again, unless she decided to go back there on vacation one day, or if they would come to visit her.
She sighed pushing the thoughts out off her mind. 'Let's not think about that just yet. Let's enjoy the last few days here and finish the paper. What comes next comes next.' She climbed the stairs to the second floor of her building and pulled her keys out of her pockets. She heard voices from inside the room as she put the key in the lock. She turned the key and opened the door. Shock was visible on her face when she saw who was inside her room. Her dorm room in London.
"Mom." She ran inside and let herself fall in the arms of her mother.
"Hey kiddo." She kissed Rory on the top of her head.
"What are you doing here?" Rory pulled away a little bit so she could see her mother's face.
"What, you're not happy to see me?"
"I am, I am happy. It's just… this was the last thing I expected to see when I walked in here. I was going to have lunch with John so I expected him here, and Susan of course, but not you and Luke. Oh my God Luke." She pulled away from her mother completely now and turned to hug Luke. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Luke smiled while holding Rory.
Rory pulled apart and looked around the room in search of Lucan. "Where's that little brother of mine?"
"He's with Susan. She's changing his diaper." At the same moment the door to Susan's room opened and she stepped out, holding a baby in her arms.
Rory took a few big steps towards the two of them and let Susan hand the baby to her. "Hey baby brother." She hugged him tight. "You got so big and so heavy. Mom really lets you eat a lot doesn't she? I missed you so much."
The baby started crying in response.
"You're holding him a little to tight sweetie."
"Oh sorry." Rory loosened the grip a little and the baby calmed down immediately. She held him a little further from her body so she could get a good look. "Wow. You really look like your dad don't you."
"He sure does." Lorelai went to stand next to her daughter.
"I can't believe you are here. How long have you been planning on doing so? And why didn't you tell me?"
"Believe it hon. Luke came up with the idea last week, when I asked him if we could go to his cabin for a few days. Have a little family vacation after all the work pressure of the last few weeks. We agreed to keep it a surprise so that's why we didn't tell you."
"We've been talking almost every day over the phone last week. You're never good at keeping secrets."
"I know." Lorelai smiled really proud.
John stood up. "Hey, I hate to interrupt but I'm leaving you alone now. I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do and I have to work on my paper."
"Oh sure." Rory looked at him.
"Thanks for helping us John. We really appreciate it."
"No problem. I've always been very curious to meet you Mrs. Danes, from the first moment I met Rory. I knew that the mother of Rory had to be really special, and I was right."
Lorelai blushed. "Thanks."
John smiled. "See you all later." And with that he left.
"So, what's the story with this John guy?" Lorelai turned to face her daughter again.
"We have a few classes together and when I first came her we were assigned to write a paper together. That's when we became friends."
"You never mentioned him, not once."
"Yeah well, I have friends here you know."
"I figured… it's just, you seem really close."
"He's a good guy. He worked really hard to get into this school and he gets really good grades. He's going to be a great reporter one day. But how did you meet John?"
"We met his father. He drove us here from the airport and when we were outside the gate discussing how to find you he told us his son was in this school so he called him and that's how we found you. We didn't know the two of you knew each other until we met John."
"Yeah, his father is a cab driver." Rory smiled, still in disbelieve that they were here. "How long are you staying?"
"We're here to pick you up."
"But I still have to turn in a paper and…."
"Calm down, we're not here to take you home right now. We're going back with the same plane you're going home with. We wanted to see where you've been living for the past year."
"You like it so far?"
"It's different than I expected, the university I mean. I expected it to be, I don't know, smaller. I've already seen London when we were here during our backpacking trip through Europe."
"I'll give you a tour later. But did you say you came straight from the airport?"
"Yeah, I really wanted to see you."
"You must be worn out by now."
"A little, but overall I'm starved."
"I could've known. But so am I, so I guess we can go out and get some lunch. The school has a good cafeteria but we can also go somewhere else if you like? There are some good places to eat around here, or we can take the subway to the center of the town?"
"Cafeteria's fine. Maybe they can heat up a bottle for Lucan too, he will be hungry soon."
"I think so. Do you want to fresh up or put on some clean clothes before we leave?"
Lorelai looked at Luke who lifted his shoulders in return.
"Nah, let's eat first and take a shower later."
Both Luke and Rory smiled at Lorelai.
"What?"
"Nothing, let's go." Luke put the diaper bag in the stroller. "You can lay him down if you want."
"Can I hold him a little longer?"
"Sure, as long as you want."
The walk to the cafeteria was about ten minutes. The place was crowded with students. They went to stand in line.
"Won't Lucan get upset because it's so busy in here?" Rory looked at her mother questioning.
"Nah, he's used to it. He's at the diner all the time when the place is crowded. He even sleeps right through it."
Rory smiled. "Really?"
"Oh yeah, he definitely got that from Luke, you can set of a bomb next to him and he wouldn't notice."
"That's not true." Luke said indignant.
"When you're asleep you're asleep. Only Lucan can wake you up, and even then most of the time you just sleep through it."
"How about you? You don't wake up either once you're asleep."
"I do wake up when Lucan's awake."
"I guess that's the mother's instinct." Rory budged in. "But we're next."
Luke and Lorelai looked at each other and then at the Rory. They both shook their head and smiled. "I guess he has it from the both of us then?"
"Guess so."
"Good, now order."
"How may I help you?" The cafeteria lady politely asked.
"Can you heat up a bottle for my baby?"
"Sure. Unless you mean one of the college students and not a real baby."
"The bottle is for Rory here." She pulled her daughter towards her. "The baby prefers his bottles straight from the fridge. A nice cool beer."
Luke rolled his eyes and hissed "Lorelai!"
"What? You like your beer cold too right?"
"Give the lady the damn bottle. Lucan will be hungry soon and we don't want to keep him waiting."
"Fine." Lorelai handed the bottle to the woman. "It's for the baby, not for Rory."
The woman smiled. "I figured but it's good to know for sure. If you take a seat around here I'll take it to you when it's ready."
"I appreciate that." Then she ordered her food and Rory and Luke followed her example.
They found a table in the center of the cafeteria. They sat down with their plates in front of them. Lucan was still with Rory, and Luke had been carrying her plate. She put Lucan in her lap and tried to figure out how to eat while holding a baby. She was holding him with both her arms. She looked at her plate, then at her arms with her baby brother in it and back to her plate.
Both Luke and Lorelai laughed at the sight. "Need some help hon?"
"How do you do this?"
"Hand him over, you can hold him again when you're done."
"Thanks." She handed Lucan to their mother who placed him in her lap, putting one hand around him and used her other to eat.
"Oh…"
"You'll get used to it. When you were a baby I had no idea how to do those things either. I had never held a baby before in my life and suddenly I had the responsibility over you. I had to feed you, change diapers, and dress you. The nurses in the hospital helped me and taught me how to do things and by the time you and I could go home, I knew some things, but not everything, at all."
"But you learned?"
"You're still here right?"
"Yeah I guess."
"Don't worry. Once you're around him a little more often you get the hang of things. There are still situations that I don't know what to do."
"Really?"
"Of course, but that's not something you should worry about. That's why I'm the parent and you're the big sister. But enough about this, tell me how things have been going here lately."
"Things are great. It's almost over, I have to turn in one more paper and then it's done. I passed everything I did this year. I can hardly believe it's almost over and I'm going home, permanently."
"But that's a good thing right? You're not planning on staying here another year are you?" Lorelai was almost afraid to ask, even though she made it sound like a joke.
"Absolutely not. It was fun for a year, but I really want to go home now. I missed you and Luke and Lucan and my house and my bed and my friends. I couldn't stay here any longer even if I wanted too."
"You could if you wanted."
"You got me. I had a great year. I learned a lot and I think this experience changed me. But there comes an end to every good thing and I'm coming to that point. When I was walking towards my dorm earlier, I was thinking that it feels kind of mixed up. I really want to go home, but it's also going to be weird not to be around here anymore. I made friends here and I may never see them again. But I missed my friends in Stars Hallow and at Yale too and I really want to see them again. It's just…. weird."
"You might see them again. Warren's coming to Yale with you right? And the others may come to the states one time and pay you a visit, and maybe you come here again too. You never know how things go."
"I know, that's what I thought. But it's still a weird feeling."
Then the cafeteria lady came to bring Lucan's bottle. She smiled when she saw the family sitting at the table. "Hey, here's the bottle."
"Thanks." Lorelai took the bottle from the woman.
"I don't want to be curious, but are the kids both yours?"
"Yeah." Lorelai glanced at Luke and knew what he was thinking. She gave him a slight smile.
"It's great that after raising your daughter you started all over again. There aren't a lot of people doing that. It must be hard to do it all over again now you're older."
Lorelai was surprised. This wasn't the kind of reaction she got before. "It's different, that's for sure, but I wouldn't say that it's really hard."
"And how is it for you?" She looked at Luke now.
"I uhm… uh…. well…"
"He's not my real father although he's been more like a father to me than my own father ever has. Luke was always there for me and my mother, they've been friends for years before they fell in love and got married."
"Oh I see…" The woman started to feel uncomfortable for asking all those questions. "I'm sorry for asking all those questions. It's just that as a cafeteria lady you never get to hear the stories behind the students. We hardly even know them by name. We see them almost every day for years but we just don't get a real connection. So when I see a family visiting one of those students I have to ask, even though I know I should keep out of it."
"It's okay. We don't mind. We get questions about our family all the time. I guess everybody has his or her own reason to ask."
"But it must be uncomfortable to have to answer questions all the time just because you don't have a common family."
"It's annoying sometimes, but we live in a town full of noisy people and after years you kind of get used to it. I have two kids and I'm proud of the both of them, even though people seem to find it hard to believe they are siblings."
"Well you have a lovely family and you have every reason to be proud. And if you look close you can see some resemblance between those two, although I think he looks more like his father and your daughter looks more like you."
Luke smiled inwardly, thinking it wasn't so bad to talk about your family. It wasn't until then he realized that what Lorelai said on the plane was right. He promised himself that he would tell her later, even though he knew he wouldn't stop hearing about it. Then he looked at Lucan who started crying. "Looks like he's waiting for that bottle."
Lorelai picked up the bottle from the table and put the nipple in her son's mouth.
"I better leave you alone. Your food is getting cold too."
"Thanks again for heating up the bottle."
"No problem."
"And you should ask the students if you want to know their names. I'm sure you can get some kind of connection with them if you try enough."
"I'll try."
After lunch they went back to Rory's dorm room. Lucan was asleep in the stroller so they put him aside. "Do you have much more work with that paper of yours?" Lorelai asked Rory while they all sat down.
"Not that much. I've been looking up some things in the library and I have to get back there to finish up, then I can come back her to type up the last chapters."
"Why don't you go back to the library, then Luke and I go to the hotel to shower and change clothes, then we can go out for dinner?"
"You're staying in a hotel?"
"Yeah, we got a room in a hotel not far from here. I'll leave you the address."
"You don't mind if I go work on my paper? I mean, I can put it off until tomorrow?"
"Of course you're not doing that. The faster you finish it the better right? You're not putting anything off. Plus, I really want to fresh up and take some rest, and I'm sure Luke feels the same."
"You better not sleep, I mean, with the jetlag it wouldn't be good. It's better to get in the new rhythm immediately."
"We'll try."
Both Luke and Lorelai stood up. Do you meet us at the hotel when you're done or you want to meet again here?"
"I'll come to the hotel, let's say around 7?"
"Sounds perfect."
In the hotel Lucan was still asleep in his stroller. Both Luke and Lorelai sat down on the bed. Lorelai looked around taking the whole room in. Then she let herself fall back on the bed.
"You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine." She sighed. "Just a little tired."
"Me too. I guess we'll go to bed early tonight and will be okay in the morning."
"Guess so……." She was silent for a while. "Hey Luke?"
"Yeah?" He laid down next to her and rolled on his side so he could look at her.
"What about Lucan? We say that once we get some rest and won't get some sleep we'll get over the jetlag, but what about him? It took us over a week to get him to sleep through the night, and he will only be here for a few days."
"We'll keep feeding him at his usual times. There's a five-hour time difference so that means we have to feed him once during the night. It might be a problem to get him to sleep again because he's awake more lately but we'll see what happens."
"Maybe my mother was right. Taking a baby in an airplane is one thing, but taking him to a different time zone. I didn't think about it before." She put a hand over her face, which Luke pulled away. He lifted himself above her so he could see her in the eyes.
"Don't say that. You know we never could have left him alone and we don't have to be up early as long as we're here. We're going to be here until Sunday and we're going to enjoy this. If we're awake during the night because of Lucan we just sleep during the day when he sleeps."
"Sounds like a plan." She leaned in to kiss him. "So, do you want to shower first?"
"You can go, I prefer to lie here for a little while longer."
"I was actually hoping you would go first. I was thinking the same thing."
"Why don't we both stay here then? Rory won't be here until seven o'clock so there's enough time. We can lay down for a while and shower when we feel like it."
"Yeah you're right." She smiled. "Do you think Rory was happy we came?"
"Do you have to ask? You saw how she looked when she realized you were in her room."
"She was shocked. She was definitely not expecting to see us."
"She wasn't but she was definitely happy about it."
"Mmm" She put her head on Luke's shoulder. "Do you think that when it's most likely Lucan will be awake tonight, we can sleep for a while now?"
"I wouldn't have a problem with that. I thought we were tired the last few weeks because of work, but this…."
"But I'm glad we're here. You like London?"
"Haven't seen much of it but it seems busy."
"We'll see more later, now I just want to sleep."
"Then close your eyes." She did and he kissed her forehead before closing his own eyes, pulling Lorelai even closer to his body and soon they we're all asleep.
A/N: That's it for now. I will be going on vacation next Sunday but I'll try to update at least one chapter before I leave. But don't be mad if it doesn't work out the way I planned! Anyway, don't forget to let me know what you think of this chapter ;)