A/N: This is my first Gilmore Girls fan fiction so please go easy on me! I love hearing from my readers, so if you enjoy this story, please review! Reviews are what keep me motivated. This takes place about a year after Rory's Yale graduation. I'm taking artistic liberty in this story and pretending like Anna and April never happened!
Disclaimer: The only Gilmore Girls I own are the first five seasons on DVD!
Lorelai Gilmore Danes stood staring out the window of her bathroom at a light flurry of snow that had just begun to fall. It was early March and a little late in the season for snow, making its surprise appearance extra special. The best and most magical things always happened when it snowed and she was hoping today would be no exception. The ringing of her kitchen timer abruptly shook her from her thoughts. She walked casually to the counter on the other side of the bathroom, trying to pretend that what the test said didn't matter.
"Damn it." She said, staring at the bold and unforgiving words 'Not Pregnant'. She threw the test into the trashcan and sucked in a deep and cleansing breath. She peered down into the pink trashcan and realized that 'Not Pregnant' was still staring at her. She reached down and wrapped the test stick in toilet paper before forcefully throwing it back down. "What?" She questioned Paul Anka when she realized he was staring at her from his place on the tile floor. "It was mocking me! The stupid test was mocking me. I'm not pregnant, I get it. I don't need it to mock Luke when he gets home." She sat down next to the dog and patted his head. "Tell me something, why do they make such a huge deal about the test being easier to read than all the other tests anyways? Because at sixteen, even I could tell the difference between a pink strip and a blue strip…." Lorelai's rant was interrupted by the rings of her cell phone.
"Don't hang up, don't hang up." She commanded the caller on the other line as she searched frantically for her phone. "Hello?" she said once she finally found it at the bottom of her purse.
"Morning." Luke replied. Lorelai could hear the diner was busy.
"You were gone when I got up. I missed seeing you this morning."
"You're not are you?" Luke asked, sensing the disappointment in his wife's voice.
"No, not this time."
"Well, give it time. We haven't been trying for that long." He tried to sound indifferent and strong for her sake, but his voice was full of just as much disappointment as Lorelai's.
"Yeah, you're right. It'll happen eventually." Lorelai only half believed this. She knew in her mind they'd only been trying for three months, she knew that doctors had confirmed that both she and Luke were still able to have children, she knew she was almost forty years old and that getting pregnant would not be easy. She had accepted the fact that, unlike its sister's, this baby's conception would require work, ovulation calendars, and careful timing. Rory's conception only required teenage passion, a little too much alcohol, ten minutes, and a broken condom.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine." She said in a less than convincing tone. At times, her heart ached with the desire to hold a newborn baby to her chest again and smell that sweet baby smell. Rory had spent most of the first few months of her life snuggled safely in Lorelai's arms. As much as she wanted to have that feeling again, she wanted even more for Luke to experience it for the first time ever.
"Damn."
"What?" Lorelai heard Luke barking orders at someone in the background.
"Something's on fire. I have to go, but we'll talk later. And Lorelai?"
"Yeah Luke?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
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At the very same moment Lorelai was being mocked by her 'Not Pregnant' test reading, Rory Gilmore was staring at the very same brand of pregnancy test. Except her test wasn't mocking her with a 'Not Pregnant' reading but instead horrifying her slightly with a 'Pregnant' reading. Rory sucked in a deep breath and splashed her face with cold water. "Okay, this is okay." She told her reflection. "I'm twenty-four, I have a good job, and I'm getting married in June." She paused. "This is good news. It's not the ideal time. But it's good news." She tossed the test into the trash only to retrieve it a moment later. She wrapped it tightly in entirely too much toilet paper and then threw it away again. As Rory squeezed cinnamon flavored toothpaste onto her toothbrush, she ran through numerous ways to tell Logan and her mom her news. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a cell phone ringing. Exiting the bathroom, she saw that Logan's phone had vibrated its way off the nightstand and was lying on the floor, alerting Rory that Logan had a new voice message.
"He must be missing this at work." She opened the phone and dialed the voicemail box number to ensure that the call hadn't been urgent.
"Hey baby, it's Jessica. I just wanted to thank you for last night. Dinner was magical…." A rising anger caused Rory to stop listening for a moment. Logan told her he'd had a late night at the office, not dinner with another woman who sounded leggy and blonde. "Anyway, I was hoping we could meet up again tonight. There's just so much chemistry it's hard to ignore. Give me a call when you get a chance."
"Cheating son of a bitch…." Rory said through gritted teeth, throwing Logan's phone to the ground and then stepping on in for good measure. She grabbed her luggage from the closet and frantically began packing her belongings, not bothering to fold anything. As she packed, she dialed her mom's number.
Lorelai had just hung up with Luke when her phone rang again, she glanced at the display screen and smiled when she saw Rory's name.
"Hello my darling girl."
"Mom…." Rory started.
"What's wrong babe?" Lorelai tried to ignore the panic quickly rising inside of her when she heard the pain in Rory's voice.
"I need to come home."
"What happened?" For a few minutes all Lorelai heard was Rory's heavy breathing on the other end of the phone. "Honey?"
"He's cheating on me."
"What?"
"Logan's cheating on me. His girlfriend just called his cell and left a message about their date last night. I need to get out of here."
"Oh hon….." Lorelai said in a soothing voice. She had an overwhelming desire to reach through the phone and wrap her daughter in her loving arms. "Do you need me to come and get you?"
"No, I'm okay. I'm just packing up my stuff and coming home, I mean, if it's okay"
"Sweetie, it's more than okay. I want you here with me."
"Thanks. And mom…."
"I'll ask Luke to bring home some food from the diner." Lorelai said, knowing what Rory was about to ask.
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After hanging up with her daughter, Lorelai walked upstairs into the room Rory had once shared with Logan on their visits. When she and Luke had moved into the new house her parents purchased for them, they insisted on keeping a room for Rory. Lorelai walked into the room and sniffed the air. She wanted to make sure the scent of Logan's cologne didn't linger from his last visit. It didn't. The air smelled purely of Rory. As Lorelai stripped the sheets from the bed and replaced them with fresh ones, she realized that above the anger she felt towards Logan and the sadness she felt for Rory, she was relieved. The bastard had done the last terrible thing he would ever do to Rory. Logan had been nothing but bad for Rory, and the only reason Lorelai had ever been kind to him was because Rory seemed to love him. After fixing Rory's room, Lorelai called Luke.
"Luke's diner." He sounded grumpy.
"Good, you didn't burn down!" She teased.
"Oh, hello. Yeah, it was no big deal really, just a tiny fire." All the sourness in Luke's voice melted when he hear Lorelai's voice.
"I need you to bring home some food from the diner tonight."
Luke laughed a little, "Just calling to remind me?"
"No, not just dinner from the diner but dinner and a serious amount of junk! Hamburgers, fries, chili fries, onion rings, hot dogs, mashed potatoes, ice cream, coffee, everything you've got."
"Rory's coming home for a visit?"
"No, she's coming home for good. That slimy, disgusting little weasel is cheating on her."
"Is she okay? Do I need to go get her?" Luke asked, trying to quiet the father inside of him that wanted to go break Logan in two.
"No, she's driving. She was on Rory autopilot when I talked to her."
"Give her a hug for me when she gets there."
"I will."
"I'll see you two when I get home."
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Lorelai was busy checking the cabinets for pop tarts and the refrigerator for raw cookie dough when she heard Rory's car pull into the driveway. She immediately stopped what she was doing and rushed outside.
"Hey." Lorelai whispered, pulling a queasy looking Rory into a tight hug. Looking into the car, Lorelai noticed that Rory's usual commuter cup of coffee had been replaced by a bottle of Sprite and that an opened package of saltine crackers sat on the passenger seat. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Her baby girl was pregnant.
"Hi mom." Rory whispered back, sinking into her mother's arms.
"How are you?" Lorelai pulled away slightly and placed her hand on her daughter's cheek. The loving touch of her mother gave Rory permission to finally break down.
"Why……doesn't……he…..love….me?" Rory hiccupped, burying her head in her mother's shoulder
"Shhhh, it's okay sweetie." Lorelai kissed her head and smoothed her hair. She could feel Rory's tears soaking through her shirt. "Mommy's here. It's going to be okay." She let Rory cry for a few minutes before taking her face in her hands and wiping her tears away with her thumb. "Let's get you inside. It's cold out here."
Lorelai led her sobbing daughter upstairs to her bedroom and helped her change into the warmest pair of sweats she owned.
"Won't Luke mind?" Rory asked as her mother tucked her into her bed. Lorelai had tucked Rory into her bed a hundred times before when she was sad, sick, or scared, but she had never tucked Rory into their bed.
Lorelai smiled and shook her head, "No, he won't." She picked up the phone and dialed. "Hey Joe, its Lorelai, I need a pizza with everything on it." She paused for a minute, "Thanks." After hanging up the phone, Lorelai climbed into bed and kissed her daughter's blotchy red cheek.
"My heart hurts." She whispered as her tears began to fall again.
"I know angel face." She said, pulling Rory closer to her. Feeling the irregular rise and fall of Rory's chest against her side, seeing her swollen eyes, and hearing her sobs broke Lorelai's heart in two.
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After about an hour, Rory had calmed down enough to try and eat the pizza her mother was offering her. She regretted eating the moment she started on her second piece.
"Uh oh……." She mumbled, throwing her plate on the bed and rushing into the bathroom where she immediately began to gag violently. She felt her mother pull her hair into a low ponytail and kneel beside her.
"Oh honey…." Lorelai cooed as she rubbed her back soothingly. When she was done, Rory closed her eyes and sunk back into her mothers arms exhausted.
Lorelai placed a cold cloth on her head. "The morning sickness is the worst part babe. Well, that and the labor."
Rory opened her eyes and looked at her when she realized what she was saying. "You knew?"
Lorelai smiled, "Of course I knew. You're my daughter, moms just know."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just found out this morning, and then everything with Logan happened and…..are you mad?"
"Of course not." Lorelai said, helping Rory to her feet and leading her back to bed. "How do you feel about it?" She asked, tucking the blankets around Rory.
"I think I feel good about it. I mean, babies are good even when they aren't born under the best circumstances right?"
"You have no idea kid. You certainly weren't born at the most ideal time in my life and you're without a doubt the best thing that ever happened to me. I didn't know love until I had you." Lorelai paused. "Did you tell Logan?"
Rory shook her head, "No, I just left a note saying 'Your girlfriend called' with his smashed cell phone and my engagement ringsitting on top of it."
"You broke his phone?"
"Yeah, I stepped on it with my heel." Rory said with a slight smile.
"That's my girl!" Lorelai said, kissing her forehead.
"Do you think I can do it? Raise a baby on my own? I mean, I know you did it but you're likesuperwoman."
"I know you can do it. And thank you for such a sweet compliment but I'm no superwoman. Besides you do not have to do this alone. You have me, you have Luke, and you have you grandparents, not to mention the entire town of Stars Hollow."
Rory's face became panicked at the mention of her grandparents, "Do you think they'll be mad?"
"No hon, this isn't the same thing as their daughter getting pregnant at sixteen. You graduated college and have a job you love." Lorelai decided not to throw in the fact that she had been engaged.
"But I'm not very good with kids."
"I wasn't exactly the neighborhood Mary Poppins before you came along. People saw me coming and covered their kids' eyes. With your kids it's different though. Pregnancy was hard and labor was even harder, but the minute the doctor put you in my arms I forgot it all. You were slimy and a little gross but you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. You opened your eyes and looked at me and I was yours." Lorelai's eyes misted at the memory of Rory's birth.
"So this is going to be good?" Rory half asked, half stated.
"This is going to be great."
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"Hey." Luke whispered stepping into the bedroom. Rory was snuggled in Lorelai's arms fast asleep and Lorelai was staring at a muted TV. Seeing the two people he loved most in the same room made Luke smiled.
"Hi honey." Her face lit up at the sight of him.
"She okay?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed by Lorelai and kissing her on the lips.
"She will be. She's devastated but she finally fell asleep."
"I brought food. Do you want me to put it in the refrigerator?"
"Yeah, thank you."
"You need anything?"
She nodded again, "Another kiss please." He complied. "Do you want to put Rory in her bed?"
Luke shook his head, "No, I'll go sleep there. She needs you more than I do." Luke kissed Lorelai once more before gently patting Rory's back and turning to leave. Lorelai smiled contently and closed her eyes. Watching Luke leave, she knew he loved Rory as much as she did.