Disclaimer: Applaud AS-P for her brillant characters...uh, the creators of Baby Einstein for their DVDs... and Me for my plot... because that's all I got.Hehe, that rhymed...
Chapter 24
"Let's go get coffee," Lorelai said, poking her head in the doorway to her daughter's room.
Rory looked up from her notebook. Dean was needed at work early that morning, and Rory, having received an article via email from Paris insisting she was the only person to write about it, had grabbed up her notebook and laptop and started researching what it was the article needed to be about. She was half-way done when Lorelai had come in.
"I can't," Rory replied.
Lorelai blew a raspberry, "Sure you can."
"No," Rory said with emphasis, indicating her round stomach, "I can't."
"Oh, right, I forgot." Lorelai stood there for a moment, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Mom, you're distracting me."
"But I want coffee, and I need a coffee buddy," Lorelai whined.
Rory threw down her laptop and shut her laptop. "Fine," she relented, "Just let me get dressed into something warmer."
Lorelai smiled triumphantly and left her daughter to change, going to find her own hat and gloves. Ten minutes later, they were on their way to Luke's Diner, bundled up in coats, hats, gloves, and boots.
"Luke, coffee!" Lorelai called as she took a seat at the table by the window. Luke, who was helping a customer, sent Lorelai an incredulous look, but obliged and filled her a cup of coffee, excusing himself to bring it over to her.
"Thank you," she said sweetly.
"Rory, anything I can get you?" Luke asked, sending a reproachful look at Lorelai before turning to Rory.
"Um, some herbal tea, please."
Luke nodded and left to get her a cup. Lorelai took a sip of her coffee, her foot bouncing as she watched Luke walk away.
Rory noticed her mother's odd behavior. "What's got you so jumpy today?"
"I'm very happy," Lorelai smiled, taking another sip of coffee. "So, what did you and Dean talk about last night?"
"You mean you weren't eavesdropping on us?" Rory asked with her brow raised.
Lorelai shook her head.
"Well, I told him how I wanted to get married, but he doesn't think it's a good idea right now. He said he doesn't want to make the same mistake he made with Lindsey by jumping into marriage so soon again," Rory sighed. "He looked so upset and he really pleaded with me to wait, so I told him I would."
"Aww, babe, that's really sweet of you," Lorelai replied. Luke brought Rory her herbal tea and left with a stern look at Lorelai's dazed face. She watched him leave, checking out… ahem, defining parts of him.
Rory caught that look, too. "Okay, you've got to tell me what's going on with you and Luke."
The grin on Lorelai's face broadened and she leaned forward. "Luke proposed to me last night, so I'm engaged...still," she said quietly and rather confusingly, adding, "He apologized for making me wait, and he told me he's ready to jump into the whole marriage thing." She straightened up, saying, "Well, he used the word cliff, but I felt that's overly dramatic."
Rory's face lit up and, if she wasn't pregnant, she would've leaned forward and hugged her mom. "That's great news! Are you keeping the same date or what?"
"Well, I know I had it set in summer, but I really don't want to wait any longer. And what better a time than my favorite time of the year, when it's snowing? You know, it started last night right as I walked into the bedroom and found him on one knee."
"Yeah, I was thinking that after my and Dean's fight last night."
Lorelai raised her cup of coffee. "Good things happen when it snows," she said, and toasted it with Rory's cup of herbal tea.
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"I don't want a big birthday party," Rory complained.
"Why not? We'll invite the whole town like old times."
"Mom," Rory whined.
Dean entered, shaking the snow from his hair. "You know, isn't it a little early for blizzard season?" he asked, dropping his jacket and tool belt in his and Rory's room before coming back into the kitchen where Lorelai was digging through bags. He gave Rory a kiss on the cheek and noticed the sour look on her face. "What's wrong? And what is all this?"
"Mom wants to throw me a big birthday party this year," Rory explained.
"Will I actually be invited to this one?" he asked with a laugh, remembering how he wasn't allowed to her 16th birthday party because she had yet to tell Lorelai about him.
"I don't want one, though," Rory complained, ignoring the question and glowering at her mother.
"Why not?"
Rory rolled her eyes as though the answer was blatantly obvious. "Because then I'll be stuck entertaining the entire town, and everyone will be gushing over the baby and touching my stomach. I can't even walk around town without someone stopping me and asking how far along I am or when I'm due. It's getting annoying."
Dean chuckled and kissed the top of her head, rubbing his hands up and down her arms as he stood behind her.
"Hey, it's either a birthday party or a baby shower," Lorelai warned, emerging from the bags. "Pick and choose my darling."
Rory mumbled something incoherently.
"That's what I thought," Lorelai said. She seemed to pause and consider something though. "Although, you could milk it and get a whole bunch of stuff for the baby, too, that way saving some money for that new place you guys wanted."
"I'm not conning the townspeople," Rory replied dryly.
"Why not? You and I both know that they'll be bringing you baby presents even if it's a birthday party," Lorelai stated.
"She's right," Dean agreed.
"Mom, I just wanted to hang out with Dean and watch movies," Rory admitted. "I really don't want to have to go out or play hostess to anybody."
"But you do that every night, and besides, I'm playing hostess, not you."
Rory decided not to argue with her mother. It was probably going to be one of the last times Lorelai could throw her a party like this, at least for a while. She would humor her mother and play along with it.
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Even though Rory knew about the party, Lorelai still insisted on having it a surprise. Rory was restricted from coming anywhere within a 100 ft of the house, and was forced to hang out at Lane and Zach's place all day. Dean took her out to an early dinner as his birthday gift to her, and then brought her back to the house. Walking in the door, the lights were flipped on and everyone yelled surprise in the classic television style, but what caught Rory's eyes were the little pink, blue, yellow, and green ribbons of certain presents and the obvious fact that it wasn't just a birthday party, but a baby shower too.
Any anger Rory had had towards the party idea vanished as she was ushered into the living room and met with friendly faces of all the people she loved. Sookie and Jackson were there with Davey and Martha, Lane had come with Zach who hung out with Dean and Luke feeling uncomfortable at a baby shower (he thought it was a hint from Lane that she wanted kids now), Miss Patty, Babette, and even Lulu had come, though she left Kirk at home because he claimed he felt uncomfortable around pregnant woman.
The party lasted a good two and a half hours before Rory yawned and Lorelai and Sookie hoarded all of the guests out. Sookie helped Lorelai clean up the kitchen before she left, Jackson having already taken the kids home earlier, and Rory sat looking at all the boxes and bags of baby clothes, diapers, toys, and books, that people had brought for the baby. Dean had already carried the presents Rory had received for herself into their room.
"Your dad apologized for not being able to stay, but dropped this off earlier and said its from him and Gigi," Lorelai said, dropping a gift bag beside Rory.
Dean came back out and stood behind Rory as she opened the gift bag to find a box of the entire set of Baby Einstein© DVDs and an envelope. As Dean inspected the DVDs, obviously impressed, Rory opened the envelope to reveal a card with a check for $5000 and a note inside. The note read:
I'm so very proud of the woman you've become. Your mother couldn't have done a better job, and Dean couldn't be a luckier guy.
I hope it's alright, the gift I got you. I figured you could start on the baby's application to an ivy-league school early. Next week I'll probably be sending the hi-tech baby monitors I saw at the store, too. It was a tie between them and the DVDs.
I talked to your mom about your living situation, and don't get mad. The conversation somehow drifted to that topic, and I felt like you and Dean deserve a place to call your own, and your mother really shouldn't lose the few bolts she has left in her head to another baby crying. So please, accept this check as a way to make up for those years I wasn't there for you.
Love,
Your Dad
Rory smiled and shut the note. She handed the check to Dean and looked up at him, watching his reaction from calm to awe. "I think we can get that apartment now," she whispered.
Author's Note: Gosh, that was a fast update, huh? Okay, I know this stuff was just random, especially the whole party thing, but I couldn't think of anything else to put with Lorelai and Rory's little talk about what went on in the last two chapters.
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Sneak Peak for next chappie:But in this moment he realized that Rory must really and truly love him to be doing this for him. She was giving birth to his child - their child. That was probably the most monumental act of showing her love for him that she's ever done.