Chapter 11:

Hamden, Connecticut

Lorelai was talking to Bob the construction guy.

"I need to know if you guys will be able to finish all the construction work within the next two weeks, Bob?"

It's funny she thought, Bob was the first real skinny construction worker she'd ever met. She had almost laughed at him when they first met, but later came to the conclusion that, unlike his appearance would suggest, he was good at what he did and always saw things on the bright side. And she had really needed that bright side when she got here.

She couldn't believe that already 6 weeks had past since she decided to take the job in Hamden. After she had left the diner she'd gone to the Dragonfly where she totally broke down. Michel had found her but didn't know what to do with her, so he got Sookie from the kitchen. Sookie had just held her in her arms to comfort her and that's when, between the sobs, Lorelai had told her about the pregnancy and Luke's reaction in the diner. After she had calmed down a bit they talked about it for a while and, although Lorelai didn't expect it, Sookie supported her decision to take the temporary job in Hamden. She told her that it was a good opportunity for her and it would be good for her to be close to Rory and get her mind on something different for a while. She could deal with the town and Luke when she got back.

So here she was, in Hamden, starting up a new inn. It actually had been really exciting to do this all over again. Only this time she didn't feel as much pressure and stress as she had felt with the Dragonfly. Of course the Dragonfly was her most precious accomplishment in live (that is besides Rory, of course), but it was nice to put the experience she had gained to use here.

"Lorelai?...Lorelai!" Bob said to her.

"I'm sorry Bob, I tuned out there for a second. What were you saying?"

"If we don't run into mayor obstacles, I don't see why we cannot be ready within the next two weeks. We'll probably finish things up on Thursday."

Lorelai phone starts to ring.

"That's great Bob. Keep me posted will you?" She says while getting her phone.

"Hey mom, are you almost ready to go?"

"Yes hon, I'm as good as finished over here."

"Allright, I will pick you up in about 20 minutes. Mom, this is so exciting!" Rory squeals.

"I'll be ready, sweets. I'm so glad I've got you around this time."

40 minutes later, Lorelai and Rory are at the clinic, waiting for the doctor.

"Miss Gilmore?" A woman voice calls out.

"That would be me! And me!" Lorelai and Rory reply.

"Ah…. mother and daughter, if I'm not mistaken. So who of the two has made the appointment?" The woman asks.

"It's for me." Lorelai says. "But can my daughter join us?"

"Of course she can. Just walk through that door and Doctor Green will see you now.

Lorelai is fidgeting her bag nervously and Rory takes her by the arm to lead her into the doctor's office.

"Good afternoon Miss Gilmore." A friendly looking woman in her forties shakes Lorelai's hand. "So, we're all here to determine if everything is alright with the baby.

Lorelai just nods, taking hold of Rory's hand.

"Let me explain to you what we're going to do today. First I'm going to take a blood sample from you, so we can send that to the lab. And then we're doing an ultrasound, to check on the baby's heart rate and maybe the gender. It is a bit early, so we won't be a 100 sure, but if you want we can probably tell you the baby's gender. So while we take a blood sample, think about if you want to know if it's a boy or a girl."

"Behind the curtain you can change into this." The doctor says while handing here the garnment.

When Lorelai came from behind the curtain, the doctor asked her to sit down. She started to take the needle out of its wrapping.

Lorelai stared with wide eyes to the needle. "Is it really necessary to use such a big needle?" She asks in a very small voice.

"My mom is afraid of needles doctor. Isn't there any other way?" Rory asks the doctor.

"Well in special cases we can always use leeches to drain the blood." Doctor Green says smiling to both of them.

"No, that's really gross!" Lorelai says with a disgusted look on her face.

She looks at Rory, who is smiling behind her hand.

"Okay mom, just let's get this thing over with. Give me your hand and give the doctor your other arm." Rory takes her mother's hand between her hands.

"Now don't look at the doctor and the needle, just focus on me." She says pointing to her own eyes.

The doctor starts to disinfect a part of Lorelai's arm.

"Let's talk about the baby. Do you want to know in advance if it's a boy or a girl?" Rory asks, looking in her moms eyes.

Lorelai starts to smile. "I definitely want to ….auchh…..know!" She squeezes Rory's hand.

"That was all, Miss Gilmore." The doctor smiles at her. "Now let's hook you up to the ultrasound, to see if we can get a picture of the baby.

Five minutes later, Lorelai was lying on the bench looking at the monitor. She could see the fetus inside her and hear its heart beat.

The doctor studies the monitor for a little while and then turns to Lorelai. "It seems like everything is fine with the little one. So you really want to know its sex?" She smiles at her.

"Yeah I really want to know. Can you see it?" Lorelai asks.

Just know that we can't be a 100 sure till after 20 weeks. But I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a baby girl.

Rory starts to squeak and hugs her mother. It's another Gilmore girl mom!"

Lorelai just lies there; totally stunned.

"Do you want a picture of the ultrasound?" The doctor asks her.

That's when Lorelai snaps out of it. "I would love a picture of my baby girl." She says with a big smile on her face.

xxx

Yale

Paris is finishing her essay. It had taken her longer than usual to write this essay, because her mind kept drifting to Jess.

The last couple of weeks had been amazing. She and Jess really connected. And although it really got heated once in a while, they always made up afterwards. She'd realized that she was in love and it scared the hell out of her, especially when she thought of his prior record on just walking away when things get too complicated. Well she shouldn't think about that, because he was here for her now and called her his girlfriend, which was a lot more than she could say for Doyle.

It seemed like Jess was settling down a bit. He had found his own apartment four weeks ago and he loved his job at the old bookshop. The owner of the bookshop was an old man, whose health hasn't been too good lately, so he was leaning more and more on Jess to run the shop for him. Jess had really warmed up to the old grumpy man, although he would never say so, and was touched by the fact that the man trusted him with his live work.

Paris saves the essay on the computer and hits the print button. The doorbell rings and Paris walks to the front door to open it.

"Hey Jess, I thought you weren't coming over for another hour." Paris says and leans in to give him a kiss.

But Jess is furious and just walks past her.

"How could you do that, Paris? How could you?" He yells to her.

"What do you mean? Do what?" Paris is clueless.

Jess holds up a letter and looks at her, but sees that Paris is still clueless. He wasn't a 100 sure, but he was pretty sure that she was behind all of this. He took out the letter and starts to read.

"Dear mister Mariano, I'm glad to inform you that we would like to publish the work you have sent us………We would like to invite you to discuss this and the minor adjustments we would like to see made……."

He stops reading and looks at her. He sees recognition coming up in her eyes. Then her eyes start to sparkle.

"There gonna publish it? That's great Jess!"

"How could you send my work to a publisher, without asking me?" He is yelling at her again.

Paris doesn't know what to say. She thought he would be glad, but apparently he's not.

"I'm sorry, Jess. I knew this publisher through my parents and called him if I could send him your work."

"Without consulting me?" Jess is still furious.

"Well, I thought…" But she really didn't know how to respond to that.

"Don't bother. I really don't want to hear anyway." And he storms out of the room, leaving her standing there.