Emily arrived at the hospital late afternoon. She met Luke and Lorelai by the main entrance.
"I want to see Rory." She said immediately.
Lorelai frowned and said, "Okay, but you need to be prepared… it was shock to see her like that. I mean you try to imagine it before you see it, but you just aren't prepared." She swallowed.
Emily glanced at Lorelai, her expression grave. "I just need to see her." She said quietly.
Lorelai just nodded. Emily followed her and Luke to Rory's room. Visiting hours were almost over for the day.
When they got to Rory's room, Lorelai let Emily go in front of her and Luke. She was right behind her though, with a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Oh my God," Emily breathed when she finally saw her granddaughter. She walked closer to the bed, pulling free from Lorelai's grasp.
Luke and Lorelai remained by the door, silently watching Emily until Lorelai got the courage to go up to the bed too.
Emily was holding Rory's hand and just looking down at her in awe. Lorelai placed her hand back on Emily's shoulder.
"What did the doctor say?" Emily questioned.
When Lorelai didn't answer, Luke spoke:
"We don't know when she'll wake up. It could take weeks, months even years."
Emily sighed.
"But she's strong and I believe it will be sooner rather than later." Lorelai spoke up.
"That's right." Emily said softly.
Luke also stepped up to the bed, going to the opposite side. He looked down at Rory for a moment before speaking.
"Come on kid, we all need you to wake up. We're all here, your mom, your grandmother and me."
"Does anyone else know?" Emily asked, looking from Luke to Lorelai.
"Well I called Logan and left a message and Sookie knows and Chris too, I called them… I suppose the town should know too. "Lorelai answered.
"Can I see my great grandson?" Emily asked after a moment of silence.
"Oh yeah, he's in the NICU. The visiting hours start soon I think." Luke told her as Lorelai seemed lost looking at Rory.
Luke walked over to Lorelai and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She blinked and wrapped her arm around his waist. They stepped a few feet away.
"Let's head to the cafeteria and get some more food in you. And I'm sure Emily could eat too." He whispered in her ear.
Lorelai just nodded. "Mom, let's go to the cafeteria for a bit."
Emily looked down at Rory and gently touched her hair. "All right," She said, sounding regretful.
They headed down a few floors to the cafeteria. Luke got himself a chicken caesar salad and water, a slice of pizza and a coke for Lorelai. Emily just got a coffee and a sandwich. They ate in uncomfortable silence.
Once Logan had landed and was out of the airport, he regrettably turned his cell phone back on. He'd expected to see at least two messages from his father but the only missed call was from Rory's phone. He smiled and touched the screen to play the message and held the phone to his ear.
After he heard Lorelai's message, he frowned and became worried. He listened to the message again and jotted down Lorelai's number then called her.
Lorelai answered on the second ring.
"Hi Logan?" She wasn't sure if it was him.
"Hey Lorelai, I got your message, is everything okay? Where's Rory?"
"Um well that's why I called. Rory was in a car accident. They had to deliver the baby via C-section. You have a son." Lorelai stammered
"Wow… and how's Rory? She's okay right?"
Lorelai sighed deeply. Logan sounded so concerned. She didn't want to be the one to tell him the mother of his child was in a coma.
"Rory's in a coma." She finally said.
"What?" Logan replied.
"She's in a coma and we don't know when she'll wake up."
"Oh God… how? I…" Logan was at a loss for words.
"I know. It's a big shock." Lorelai sighed again.
"Yeah… and uh is our son okay?" Logan questioned.
"Owen. He's doing fine. Rory wanted to name him Owen so we did." Lorelai told him.
"Oh." Logan let out a shaky breath. "I'm coming to the hospital. Are you in Hartford?"
"Um yeah, Saint Francis,"
"I'll meet you there at the front entrance in about half an hour, okay?" Logan was determined. He hoped that Lorelai wouldn't be defensive and refuse to let him see Rory or his son.
"All right," Lorelai answered a little hesitantly.
Logan ended the call and almost dropped his phone. He rubbed his face and blinked. He barely got any sleep on the flight and was exhausted. Now he would have to remain awake instead of heading to the hotel he had booked. He tried not to let scary thoughts invade his mind and called a car service.
Once Lorelai put her phone down on the table, Emily asked if it was Logan.
"Yeah, he's coming here."
"I thought he lived in London." Emily deadpanned.
"I guess he just flew in. He's gotta be at the airport." Lorelai replied.
"Hmm," Was all Emily said.
"How did he seem?" Luke asked.
"What do you mean?"
"When you told him about Rory and the baby,"
"Worried, he seemed worried."
Luke nodded.
"He should have been here. The baby was due in a few weeks. He should have been her to support her, not gallivanting around with his fiancée." Emily muttered.
"He was supposed to come after the baby was born. He didn't expect this to happen." Lorelai said.
"Well of course he didn't expect it, no one did. I just meant he should live here, so he can be here for Rory. I don't care if they aren't together; a man should be there for his child and the child's mother." Emily crossed her arms.
Lorelai just raised her eyebrows. The three of them were silent again for a few minutes.
"You want a coffee?" Luke asked Lorelai.
"No." Lorelai frowned and put her arms on the table then rested her head on top of them.
"Are you sure? I'm going to get a tea."
"Well okay, but just a small one." Lorelai lifted her head.
"Coming up," Luke turned to Emily. "Would you like another coffee?"
"No thank you." Emily said quietly.
Luke stood and leaned down to press a quick kiss to the top of Lorelai's head before he walked off.
"Lorelai," Emily said to get her daughter's attention after a minute passed.
"Hmm?" Lorelai had put her head back down but she lifted it again.
"I suppose we'll wait for Logan to show up before we go and see Owen?"
"I guess so." Lorelai nodded and bit her lip. She wondered what Logan's reaction to his son would be. She didn't know if he had ever been around any babies. She vaguely remembered he had a niece and a nephew but she wasn't sure if he interacted with them much. Seeing Owen in the incubator might give him a shock. Not as much as a shock as seeing Rory hooked up to all those tubes and wires, she thought.
"I'm going to go call Berta. I'll be back in a few minutes." Emily said.
"Okay." Lorelai replied.
When Luke came back couple minutes later, Lorelai gestured for him to move closer to her. He awkwardly pulled his chair closer.
"What?" He asked gently.
Lorelai leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. She pressed her forehead to his for a couple seconds then pulled back.
"Thanks for staying here with me, hon." She whispered.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be." He said sternly.
"Well you ditched the diner for us and I appreciate it."
Luke's brow furrowed. "Shoot, the diner. I forgot to call Caesar. But the diner comes second…" He trailed off.
"Go call him. I'm sure he opened without you anyway when the people showed up and it was closed." Lorelai said. Caesar had his own set of keys as he ran the diner on Sundays and opened on the odd day when Luke needed more sleep.
"Yeah, okay." Luke mumbled. He got up, slipping his ancient cell phone out of his pocket and walked over to where Emily was.
Emily walked past Luke and returned to the table.
"How's Berta?" Lorelai asked with a small smile.
"She's fine. I told her I wouldn't need dinner tonight. I'm also going to need to call the museum and tell them I won't be able to do any of my upcoming shifts." Emily replied.
"Yeah," Lorelai said sadly. She would need to call Sookie back later and Michel to let them know she didn't know when she's be returning to the Inn.
Logan arrived about twenty minutes later. They met him at the front entrance and he looked like a train wreck, Luke noticed. His hair was a mess and he had bags under his eyes. He was pulling a suitcase behind him and a large duffel bag was on his shoulder.
"Hi." Logan said gently as he stepped up to them.
"Hey." Lorelai said. She met his eyes and saw how anxious he looked. "We can go see Owen. Visiting hours for the intensive care unit are done for today but the NICU is open."
"The NICU? Isn't that where sick babies go?" Logan implored.
"Yes, but he's doing okay. He was born a little early and I think he has jaundice but other than that he's good, adorable." Lorelai said with a small smile.
"Okay." Logan nodded.
They headed to the NICU. Emily and Luke didn't say a word. Emily looked as though she wanted to say something, but she just kept stealing glances at Logan.
"So, I assume you flew in from London?" Lorelai asked as they walked.
"Yeah, I came to stay for a while. Permanently actually,"
"Permanently?"
Logan didn't answer. They had arrived at the NICU. He swallowed nervously and reached for the door to the area where you put on scrubs.
Luke told Logan and Emily to put on a pair of scrubs. Emily insisted she go in first and only two visitors will allowed at once so she and Lorelai went in first.
"Oh my," Emily whispered as she held Baby Owen. "He's gorgeous."
"That's those Gilmore genes." Lorelai boasted.
"He's half Huntzberger too." Emily said, sounding a little annoyed.
The nurse who was on duty updated them and told them he did develop jaundice, but it wasn't severe. He also told them that he was eating well and there were no other problems.
After Emily held him for a few minutes, Lorelai said it was time Logan meet his son. She felt a little bad for making him wait.
Emily gently passed the baby to Lorelai and left without saying another word. She walked past Luke and Logan and left the NICU area.
"Go ahead." Luke said to Logan after a minute had passed.
"Oh, right." Logan let out a breath and stepped forward.
Once Logan had gotten to where Lorelai stood, she looked down at Owen.
"I'm going to hand you over to him now. Meet your daddy, Owen."
Logan took a tiny step back. "Ah I… what if I don't hold him right?"
"There's not much to it. Just make sure you support his hand and be gentle. You have held a baby before right? Or no?" Lorelai wondered if he had held his niece or nephew, maybe not.
"Uh yeah. My niece and nephew, but they weren't this small."
"He won't break. I told Luke the same thing and he still wouldn't hold him. But you're the dad, you have to hold him. He needs to bond with you." Lorelai met Logan's gaze. She saw fear in his eyes but he held out his arms.
Lorelai slowly put Owen into Logan's arms. Owen squirmed a little and made a noise.
"He doesn't like me." Logan murmured under his breath.
"You're fine." Lorelai assured. She was a little wary of Logan still, unsure if he would be reliable or what he meant when he said he was staying permanently. Did he leave Odette? She wondered. She doubted it.
Logan was smiling down at Owen. His thoughts were scrambled, mostly with worry for Rory, but once he looked into his son's eyes, he focused. My son, he thought. This is my son. He was in awe and he already felt so much love for Owen.
"He's got Rory's nose." Logan whispered.
"Really? I hadn't noticed." Lorelai looked down at the baby.
Logan laughed as the baby grasped his finger. Lorelai watched them interact with a heavy heart. Logan would be Owen's only parent for the unforeseeable future and she had to know for sure that he would be sticking around. She and Luke would bring the baby home when the time came, no questions asked, but she would let Logan visit him if he was actually staying in Hartford or nearby. She also needed to know if Logan or his family would try to fight them for custody although she doubted it.
"Hey, Logan?"
"Hmm?" Logan didn't look up, kept his eyes on Owen.
"I need to know if you'll really be sticking around. I can't let you come and go in and out of Owen's life. Are you planning on moving to Hartford or?" Lorelai spoke clearly and quickly. She needed answers.
Logan's expression changed. He nodded curtly and asked the nurse to take the baby.
"Let's go talk outside." He said.
Author's notes: Thanks for reading, following and reviewing this story. I really appreciate it.
