"A baby?" Luke asked as he glanced down at Lorelai's thin stomach finding it hard to believe.

"I just found out a few weeks ago." Lorelai smiled.

"Chris is the father…"

Lorelai sighed. "Unfortunately."

"Wow…" Luke slowly sank onto the door step. "That's …."

"Unexpected?" Lorelai sat down beside him. "I guess I'm not a kid anymore, huh?"

Luke smiled. "I'm sorry I called you a kid… I was on a very high horse back then." Luke kicked at a clump of dirt beside his shoe. "Now, I'm working as a bag boy for one of the most annoying people in town."

"You're doing what you have to do to take care of you little sister." Lorelai replied. "There's nothing shameful in that at all."

"Liz hates me." Luke remarked. "She blames me for everything. She keeps threatening to run away…" Luke paused. "She's been seeing some guy… I know she has been. She'll run away with him, Lorelai."

Lorelai placed her hand on Luke's shoulder. "If she does, then you should let her go. Don't try to stop her. It'll only make her want to run away more."

"Yeah, Liz is spiteful." Luke agreed. "If she goes, in a way I'd be better off. I'm not good with looking out for others, you know. I'm kind of a one person guy, and that one person is me."

"I don't think that's true, Luke. I think you're protective, thoughtful, noble…"

"Thanks… that's a lot coming from you." Luke smiled. "I mean, you're going to be a mom… God, I could never be a parent."

"Why?" Lorelai asked, half laughing.

"I hate kids." Luke replied. "They're loud, and they're rude… and they always smell… and their hands are always sticky and dirty…"

"You're leaving out all the good parts." Lorelai added. "Like, when you see a baby take it's first step. Or say it's first word." She smiled. "Or when they're learning to read, or write, or ride a bicycle. When you give them their first puppy or kitten. When they start school… when they kiss you good night and ask you to read them a story." Lorelai paused. "Children are so innocent. They're so pure and untainted. It's amazing."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "You do not sound 15 years old."

Lorelai raised from the step. "Like I said Luke, I'm not a kid anymore. I'll see you tomorrow." Lorelai opened the door and walked inside.

Lorelai waited impatiently with Joan in the doctor's waiting room. She kept staring at the clock.

"Lorelai, relax." Joan smiled. "The doctor will be out shortly."

"I know." Lorelai exhaled. "It's just, this is a very big moment for me. There's going to be a lot of firsts here in the next 20 minutes."

"It's painless, I promise." Joan replied.

"It's not the ultrasound that scares me." Lorelai retorted. "It's having the doctor examine me. I mean, geeze where does my privacy go?"

"You seemed fine when we took you to Dr. Andrews."

Lorelai's voice lowered. "Yeah, but Dr. Andrews was a woman."

"Dr. Herbert is a very professional man." Joan added. "He's a wonderful doctor."

"Really?" Lorelai asked. "And how do you know that?"

"He delivered you, 16 years ago."

Lorelai turned and her head away from Joan, and kept quite until the nurse came out and called her and Joan back to the office.

Lorelai walked into the bright white room. There were monitors and chords running everywhere.

"Hello, Joan." Dr. Herbert smiled as he walked in from another door. "It's nice to see you again."

"Hello, Dr. Herbert." Joan smiled as she placed her arm around Lorelai. "This is Lorelai."

A gigantic smile crossed the doctor's face. "Well, what a pleasant surprise. You may change in that room over there." He pointed. "Then help yourself into that bed, there. I'll be back within a few minutes, and we'll get started."

Lorelai reluctantly changed into the hospital gown, and crawled into the bed. She was dreading every moment of this, but couldn't stand another minute of not knowing whether she was carrying a boy or a girl. It became clear to Lorelai that if she wanted her rainbow, she'd have to put up with the rain first.

A few minutes later, the doctor returned and began his examination. "Well, we can begin the ultrasound now." He smiled. "This is my favorite part."

Joan took Lorelai's hand and smiled, to show her daughter she truly did support her through everything. Lorelai took a deep breath as she tried to lay back on the bed and relax.

"Hmm…" Dr. Herbert replied. "Interesting."

"What?" Lorelai asked anxiously.

"The baby appears to be smiling." Dr. Herbert announced. "I've never seen that before."

"It's happy." Joan said as she gazed up at the screen. "But who could blame it?"

Lorelai turned her head so that she could see the screen. "Wow, it does look like it's smiling." Lorelai's face lit up with happiness. "Can you tell what it is? I'm growing tired of using the word it . It seems so degrading and so inhumane."

The doctor looked closer and waited for the baby to move so he could get a creditable answer. "Oh, yes." He smiled. "There's no doubt about this one. She's a girl."

Lorelai could feel her mother's grasp become tighter. "A girl?" Joan repeated.

"A girl…" Lorelai said, continuing to stare at the screen. "I'm going to have a daughter."

"Well, your family is definitely a fan of female chromosomes." Dr. Herbert laughed. "If you'd like, Lorelai, I could print out a couple of the ultrasound pictures for you to keep."

Lorelai shook her head yes, but never removed her eyes from the screen.

"Alright, I'll be back in a just a minute. Sit tight." Dr. Herbert left the room.

"Oh, mom…" Lorelai gasped. "I don't know if I can weight 5 more months."

Joan smiled. "Believe me, sweetie, there's a lot to do before then. It'll go by quickly."

"I have to start thinking of names." Lorelai replied.

"How about Emily?" Joan suggested. It wasn't till after she said it, that she realized what a rude suggestion it was. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, it's okay." Lorelai smiled. "It's a sweet thought, but she's no Emily." Lorelai placed her hand on her much larger stomach.

"You know, I always liked the name Christina. It may have been your name if I had gotten to keep you." Joan paused. "But, now I wouldn't be able to even think of that name without it reminding me of Christopher."

Lorelai looked Joan straight in the eye. "Chris is out of this picture." She said firmly. "He knows that it's over… He knows that he's blown his chance with both of us." Lorelai bit her bottom lip. "I was going to wait to tell you, until I was certain, but he called the other day. He said he's moving to New Jersey to live with his grandfather. He's going to finish up high school, then attend Princeton."

"Princeton?" Joan rolled her eyes. "Lorelai, that's very unlikely."

"Actually, his father and his grandfather and he's great grandfather all attended Princeton. I'm pretty sure he's not lying."

Dr. Herbert bolted back into the room. "Alright, Lorelai, here are you pictures. We'll get you unhooked, and you'll be free to go until your next scheduled check up."