Title: Bodies

Rating: PG

Summary: Following the events in Home

Disclaimer: lalala… not mine… lalala…

Chapter 14

Bodies

By xenoprobe

Over a month had passed since their wedding and the newlyweds were fully moved into the Twickham house. In lieu of a fancy holiday the couple had mutually agreed to take a proper vacation after the babies were born. They instead chose to take some time off from work and get adjusted in their home.

Logan had returned to Yale for the start of September classes and Rory was still in the pool house, working hard at the newspaper. She had begun to regain her confidence and interest in journalism and was auditing two courses at Yale in hopes of re-admission for the winter semester.

Star's Hollow had taken a few days to recuperate after the festivities of the Gilmore and Danes union; The park was a mess and Taylor had to employ a special task force for clean-up and strike-down. Once that was accomplished, it was pretty much business as usual for everyone.

(The House)

Lorelai tucked a lock of curls behind her ear and sighed heavily.

"Did you know this was gonna happen?" She hollered into the house. "Luke?" She waited a moment and heard nothing in response. "Luuuuuuke!"

Just then, Luke burst through the kitchen door in a panic.

"What, what is it? Are you ok?" His chest heaved with every breath.

"I'm fine." Lorelai spoke deliberately.

"Jeez… Don't scare me like that!" Luke finally took a moment to actually look at Lorelai as she sat on the floor in a sea of gifts. He cracked a smile and offered her two hands. "Here." She grabbed his strong arms as he pulled her up. "Let's. Get. You. Up." He grunted.

"I'm not that fat." She shot him a warning glance that quickly dissolved into a smile. "Say… did you know that all this was coming late?" She indicated the mountain of wedding gifts on the living room floor.

"No." Luke looked around and scratched his head.

"Well it's mostly from your family."

"Really?" Luke bent down and picked the box closest to his feet. He shook it a little then opened the card. "Aw jeez…"

"What?"

"'Lots of love from Peety'" He read aloud with a look of pure exasperation on his lovely face.

"Peety?" Lorelai couldn't suppress her laughter at the sight of Luke's expression.

"Gorgeous Peety… the parrot…"

"You got a gift from a parrot?" she was in full giggle-mode now.

"No. We got a gift from a parrot." Luke tore off the wrapping and tossed it aside while Lorelai jumped up and down.

"Do the voice! Do the voice!" she clutched his arm, making it tough for him to open the present.

"Nope."

"Aw C'mon Luke… do it!"

Luke looked at her, knowing full well that she would not relent and the thought of her jumping up and down with two growing babies in her belly made him a little uncomfortable.

"Gorgeous Peety! Crawk! Peety. Gorgeous Peety!" he squawked and Lorelai tipped forward into his arms, laughing hysterically. Luke couldn't help but chuckle as he rubbed her back. "You done?"

"Yup." She mimed zipping her lips shut and tossing an invisible key.

"Yeah- that'll be the day…" Luke finished opening the gift and groaned when he realized it was a cut crystal figuring of a parrot. "Junk. So much junk." He shook his head and led Lorelai from the mess of their living room.

(Later that day)

"Mom?" Rory pulled her house key from the lock of the front door and called out again, "mom?" but there was no answer. She took a few steps into the house and listened for any signs of life. "Ok… I'm coming in now… I'm going to the kitchen… just in case you crazy kids are in here doing newlywed things that I don't wanna know about!" she called to no one.

Rory ran a hand over the open date book on the kitchen table. They were at another doctor's appointment. She decided to head over to the diner to see Lane.

(Luke's Diner)

When the bell above the door jingled, Lane squealed at the sight of her best friend.

"Rory!" She darted out from behind the counter.

"Lane!" The girls hugged in the middle of the busy diner.

"What's new, what's the haps?" Lane took her friend by the hand and led her back to the counter. "When'd you get in?"

"Just now actually, I came to see mom but,"

"They're at the doctor's." Lane finished for her. She turned around and pointed to the calendar just inside the doorway of the kitchen. A huge green circle was visible around the date. "Luke's been fidgeting about it all week. They get to see the babies today. It's the second ultrasound."

"Oh." Rory was feeling a little out of the loop but her smile brightened at the thought of seeing the Ultrasound printouts. "Does this mean they get to know the sex of the babies too?"

"I guess. I mean, in theory. But I have no clue if it's what they want, do you?" Lane took the order pad from her apron and pulled the pencil from behind her ear. "Just a minute, I think Mrs. Cassini wants to order."

Rory darted behind the counter and helped herself to a cup of coffee then resumed her ponderings at the counter. She remembered how much her mom had wanted to know about Sookie's babies before they were born, but wasn't certain this meant anything in the grand scheme of things.

"So." Lane hopped up behind her. "Over-easy with a side of sausage Caesar." She called over Rory's shoulder.

"You've really got this diner scene down pat, don't you?" Rory grinned.

"Right down to the gruff demeanor. You should see my Luke Danes scowl!" She tried on her best sour face.

"Wow!"

"I learn from the best." Lane smiled and slipped the pencil back in its place. "it works particularly well on Kirk."

"I can imagine." Rory started rummaging in her bag for her planner and came up with a novel instead. "Look. I wanna schedule some girl time, can we do that?" She finally succeeded in grabbing the right item and cracked open the calendar.

"Actually… funny you should mention girl time. I was going to call you today after my shift to see if you had a weekend free soon." Rory leafed through the pages, pinpointed a weekend and waggled her eyebrows at Lane. "Yeah?" Rory nodded her head excitedly. "Write me in there sister… we're going away!"

"Done. In pen… can't be undone now." Rory winked. "Ok. That's taken care of… we'll talk later and decide where to go?"

"You bet." Lane looked around the diner cautiously, "look, I'd better get back to it all here. You around today?"

"I'll come back later, after mom and Luke get back." Rory jumped off her stool and hugged Lane goodbye. "See ya later."

And with that, Rory was back out the door and into the early fall sunshine.

(The House)

"Mom?" Rory called into the house, feeling like it was déjà vu all over again. "Luke?"

"In here!" Luke called from the nursery upstairs.

He greeted Rory at the bedroom door.

"Hey!" she hugged Luke briefly before glancing into the room at her mother in the rocking chair, "everything ok?"

"Everything's fine. Great even." He ginned from ear to ear, a sight Rory was increasingly more accustomed to. "I'll let you talk to Lorelai alone though… I have to get back to the diner."

"Ok, I'll see you there later then. I promised Lane I'd come back for a real visit." He nodded his goodbye and descended the stairs.

"Rory?" Lorelai sounded emotional but happy.

"Mom- you ok?" Rory entered the low-lit room and sat on the footstool opposite her mother. "Man- look at you!" She reached out and smoothed her hands over Lorelai's belly.

"I swear, these babies have somehow smuggled a keg in there and are throwing the mother of all parties!" She eyed her tummy before looking up at her daughter. "Hey you."

"Hey you too… what's up? How was the appointment?" She looked at her mother for a long and silent moment and was struck by the silent communication in Lorelai's eyes. "Is it a girl?" Lorelai nodded emphatically.

"And…"

"And a…" Lorelai's glance shifted almost imperceptibly. "A boy?" Her mother nodded again as Rory shot to her feet. "A boy and a girl!" She grabbed Lorelai around the neck and squeezed her excitedly. "I'm gonna have a brother and a sister! You're gonna have another daughter and a son…"

"Which ever way you slice it kid- it's a boy and a girl in there…" Lorelai pulled Rory from her clutch and smiled. "Now you're not gonna be all jealous and start some sort of sibling rivalry are you?" she laughed.

"I guess that depends… if they grow up and go to Harvard or Yale and make it through without a major melt-down… I might feel a few pangs of jealousy." She was joking of course, but the underlying meaning wasn't lost on Lorelai.

"Ah kid… It's gonna work out for the best, I promise. And who knows, maybe this time off is exactly what you needed after all. What do I know…?"

"That's actually why I came over today… to tell you that my time off will be coming to an end in the new year."

"Yeah? What's up?"

"I got my re-admittance letter from Yale today." Her smile was small but proud.

"Aw Rory… that's awesome! That's huge! Babe, I'm so proud." Lorelai reached out and circled herself around her daughter, kissing her cheeks all over the place.

"Gah- mom!" Rory swatted at her to get free. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry. For everything mom. I know I stressed you and Luke and with the pregnancy and the wedding and all, it was probably the last thing you needed to contend with."

Lorelai placed her palms on both of Rory's cheeks and looked her straight in the eye. "No 'sorries' ok? I won't have it. Shit happened and we weathered it- all of us and there's no need to apologize for life. The important thing is that you are feeling better about getting back into it right?"

"Right" Rory nodded decisively.

"So no more 'sorries'. Let's celebrate!" She relinquished her hold on Rory's face and struggled her way out of the rocking chair. "I think ice cream at Luke's is in order, you?"

"Here, here!"

"Right on, let's go" She looked down at her swollen feet. "As soon as I find my flip flops."

…more to come…

Author's Notes: Another filler chapter… This is one of those bridge pieces that help me get there from here. I hope it was entertaining enough for y'all to want me to continue to the babies' arrival. Hit me with the feedback folks :)