A/N: Sorry for the midweek cliffhanger! It was necessary. This chapter is huge. But your patience is rewarded with the moment we've all been waiting for... and no it isn't the name of the annex. I finally decided on that and was going to put it on here but the chapter was long enough.
This chapter is different because I kept thinking of Richard and the grief and love that this family is experiencing all at once. As it is with life, we rarely experience just one emotion.
Because of what I was feeling, a song kept popping into my head as I wrote so I added it in here. It's not all of the lyrics but so much of it fits. If you haven't, listen to "Two Tear Drops" by Steve Wariner. I know not everyone's a country music fan but when a song fits, it fits.
Update: I added a small line to the naming portion, if you don't want to scroll though the story, because you already read it, just go to the bottom and the line is also pasted there.
Two teardrops were floatin' down the river
One teardrop said to the other
I'm from the soft blue eyes of a woman in love
She'd been here before, in this hospital- wanting to punch something and scream. She'd driven herself over 3 decades ago, leaving only a note and determined to do it only by herself. Despite being here for the same reason now, this was not at all the same experience.
She wasn't missing school to be here.
It didn't take 18 hours of labor; only 4.
There were now two babies instead of one being ushered into the world.
Emily paid for a private birthing suite and refused to take no for an answer.
It wasn't 4:03 AM in October. In fact, it was 8:48 PM on July 25th. She glanced out the window for a moment. The hot summer was in stark contrast to the breeze of early fall. The bright colors of the leaves and flowers were far from being claimed by the change of the seasons.
Richard wasn't there in the waiting room. The father she hadn't wanted there before was now missing from this experience, and she wished more than anything he could be.
But the most significant difference this time around was that Lorelai Victoria Danes was not alone.
Standing by her side wasn't a random nurse whom she pelted with ice and asked to punch; it was a strong, steady diner-man whom she had pledged her life to. It was a man who had waited for her, who'd walked through terrible life events with her, fed her, kept her up when she was down, and never failed to amaze her. And in the waiting room was no longer contention over an unexpected teen pregnancy, it was her mother and daughter (and for some reason Kirk), in the lobby waiting for her.
Despite her awareness and enjoyment in that fact, she still cursed Luke with every wave of pain she felt from her contractions. Though he was her strength, he was pale and nervous and trying to disguise it. Luckily he was standing behind her left shoulder so she couldn't see his face. He offered her his hand and was sure that every bone in it might break. As the pain increased for her, so did the pressure with which she squeezed his hand. He was amazed at her strength despite never exercising with anything more than soda cans, which she would later drink as a reward.
Just when Luke was ready to let out the scream he'd held back in favor of apologies (for impregnating her, for being tall, for wearing the wrong flannel shirt, for her stretch marks, and everything else when she called him names and insulted him with movie references), the doctor called for one more push.
Lorelai gave it her all after Dr. Levitt promised that if she did, Baby A would be out. She threatened murder if that was a lie but took a deep breath and pushed with all her might. "A girl," the woman between her legs announced as she caught their daughter and handed her to the nearest nurse to be washed and measured.
"What time is it?" Lorelai demanded. She had to keep the time for future use.
"8:48PM," a nurse offered.
"Okay, Baby B is right on his sister's heals. We're gonna need you to keep pushing as his head is in position."
Released in a moment of pleasure or a moment of pain
Then they drift on down and ride to the sea again
"No, I can't." She protested, tears stinging her eyes, the pain on her face very evident. Her grip to Luke's hand was loosed because she wasn't ready to continue.
Luke kissed her hair- that was now kinked up from sweat= and gave her the encouragement she needed. "Lorelai, we have a daughter and just a couple more pushes and we'll have a son. We'll have our middle. You can do this. I love you so much, you can do this."
"You better love me, asshole. It's your offspring coming out of a very small hole in my body right now," she told him, but screamed and pushed the next time the doctor prompted her. It only took 2 pushes for her son, and for that, Lorelai was thankful.
"Time! What time is it?" Lorelai again demanded.
"8:51PM" this time Luke was looking at the clock and gave her the information. Sure it would be on the birth certificates but she didn't want to bet on them recording it wrong. She had a tradition to keep.
Her son was sent to be cleaned up as the doctor remained between her legs waiting for the afterbirth. But baby Girl A was already prodded enough and they placed her on her mother's chest.
A tear came from the flannel man's eyes as he saw his daughter for the first time. He'd seen them rush her away, he'd heard her cry, and knew she'd come out; but they were entranced in getting both babies out. It didn't feel real until he saw his wife, the love of his life, holding his beautiful daughter in a little pink blanket. He was completely in love. The staff remained quiet doing what they needed to do.
Last night I sat in the waiting room
The nurse walked in and gave me the news
It's a baby girl and they're both fine
He'd barely had time to process the beautiful scene when a young man in scrubs handed him his son in a little blue blanket. Another tear fell. Insurmountable joy and love filled the room. He didn't notice Lorelai look up at him and see his face holding their son. Her feeling was exactly that of the moment Luke saw her holding their daughter.
"Luke," she whispered and he leaned down to her to show her their son. She wiped his eyes, "I love you." He responded by kissing her gently.
"I love you too, Lorelai."
"Even after the horrible things I just said to you?" she mocked.
"I seem to remember you giving me fair warning several months ago when I felt bad about the morning sickness," he retorted. "Besides, how could I stay mad at you when you've given me the best life I could imagine? I'd never even think about loving you any less. Until now, I didn't think it was possible to love you more." She kissed him again because there was no verbal response to that.
They sat and were just the four of them for a little while. This was their middle.
"We still don't have a name for our daughter," Lorelai broke the silence as they stared at their babies who hadn't yet opened their eyes.
"I've been thinking about that. And I want you to hear me out…" Luke began
"We are not going with Sid and Nancy for our kids' names. I know I had that dream 15 years ago, but I was joking when I pitched it Luke," she tried to joke but his face was serious.
"No, Lorelai. I want to name her Emily."
"After my mother?! Why?! Rory already gave Elle the middle name. She's satisfied with that."
"Well not just Emily- Emily Abigail Danes. Emily after your mother and Abigail after mine. I think it fits since we already had William Richard Danes. Despite everything we've been through with our parents, I think it just fits."
"You're sure?" she questioned making sure to intensify her gaze. "Because my mother will bask in this, she will latch on and not let go." Lorelai was stunned that he was considering this, that she was even letting them talk about this.
"She's been great recently; things are different now. She even played a heavy hand in us finally getting married. Emily's long since given up on getting rid of me and no parents are perfect. We weren't perfect with Rory and April, and we won't be with these kids, but we'll always be there. My parents weren't perfect but we love them anyway. If we're honoring our fathers, we should honor our mothers too- they're the ones that brought us into the world."
She stared at him with her tired blue eyes, thinking about how important mothers are. It reminded her of what Richard told her when Trix (his mother) passed away- You only have one set of parents, Lorelai, remember that. Her last remaining resolve to protest was dropping. With her dad gone, her mom was the only grandparent left.
"Are you trying to get bonus points with my mother so she'll finally call you son?" she asked only somewhat jokingly.
"Lorelai," he said plainly. At this point in their relationship, just the way Luke would say her name told her everything she needed to know about what he was feeling and what he meant. It was a part of their couple language. Each intonation meant something different like an eastern-based language. In this particular context it meant 'I'm really serious Lorelai, and I want you to agree with me.'
Lorelai sighed and looked down at the infant in her arms. "Okay."
"Yeah?" He asked hopeful that she meant it.
"Yes. But don't ask again because I can't guarantee the same answer."
"Welcome to the world William and Emily Danes," Lorelai breathed out as she gazed lovingly at her two perfect looking babies.
Luke grinned from ear to ear at the melody of her voice and another tear fell.
"Are you sure it can't be Abigail Emily? Two babies with her name as a middle is basically like one with her first name?" Lorelai pleaded one last time thinking about the smug satisfaction her mother was about to have.
"Lorelai," Luke said. This time her name meant 'You've already agreed with me and I won't budge but I can't help but find you adorably amusing.' His smirk also let on to the adorably amusing part.
"Fine," the woman said with a dramatic eye roll and sigh. He was lucky he caught her at a moment when she was too in love that he could have picked Potato to be her name and she'd cave.
oOo
Dr. Levitt finished up working on Lorelai and getting the afterbirths of the babies. She gave some warnings and instructions and then let them have the room. They really were just the four of them now even though the moment they held both children they thought they were.
At the time that they were put in the premium sweet by her mother, Lorelai thought it was ridiculous but now she was glad to be in such a comfortable spot with her husband and babies.
"You should go get them," Lorelai finally said referencing the family in the waiting room.
Luke obliged and was surprised to find that April had shown up and was excited. He wasn't surprised to find the rest of what he saw though. Sookie was there feeding everyone with two casseroles and one each of a strawberry and blueberry pie she'd made (in honor of the babies). Michel was there sans Frederick because he had their daughter. Babette and Miss Patty were trying to get the scoop from any staff that passed so they could share with the whole town first- and because some of the male nurses were total eye candy. Jess was trying to pretend he wasn't as excited as he was while listening to April talk his ear off. Liz, TJ, Doula, Gypsy, Lane, Mrs. Kim, they were all there. They must have rented a bus, Luke thought.
It was Rory who spotted Luke first and eyed him for some sign of emotion beyond that he was processing the entire town of Stars Hollow in the waiting room of the maternity ward. "Luke," she finally said after being unable to read his stoic expression. This quieted the whole room and turned their attention to him.
"We have two beautiful babies and Lorelai's doing fine." He paused as everyone let out cheers. "I should have known you'd all come in here, but Lorelai's pretty tired and we don't want to overwhelm the babies so we'll just have you come in in small groups."
Rory took the reins from there, her organizational skills coming to use. She was sympathetic because of how overwhelming it was when her baby was born not that long ago. "I will set up the groups and tell them when it's ok to come in after the first group leaves. Everyone will be given 10 minutes to give congratulations and then on to the next group. I have sanitizer in my purse, you will use it or be banned from entering the room." She announced with such authority that everyone agreed to follow her lead.
"Thanks Rory," Luke responded gratefully. "The first group will be you, Emily, Jess and April," he instructed and then added, "You guys get more than 10 minutes of course."
oOo
Luke led them to the room and motioned for Emily to enter first. Lorelai was holding both babies and the sight caused her mother to stop in the doorway for a second, causing April to stumble into her.
"You're beautiful. Absolutely and completely beautiful." Tears pushed at the Gilmore matriarchs eyes threatening escape as she covered her mouth. She'd thought the wedding day was as perfect as her daughter could look but this was better. She slowly stepped up, barely daring to look at the babies as she knew the tears would win the battle with breaking the dam of her eyelids. "They're… perfect…" tears came out and she hugged Lorelai around the babies. Lorelai lifted her neck to allow it as best she could.
The other three made their way over as well. Rory was crying which was a familiar feeling for her, April was beaming and even Jess couldn't restrict his crooked smile.
"All of the goofies from home are here too," Luke informed his wife. "Rory's going to filter them through." Lorelai nodded but didn't waste what little energy she had to respond to it.
"Everyone, we'd like you to officially meet William Richard Danes and Emily Abigail Danes, the latter being born at 8:48PM and the former being born at 8:51PM," Lorelai announced proudly.
Everyone gasped a little at hearing Emily as a name. "Rory, you uh, don't mind do you? It was my idea," Luke explained knowing Rory's original plan was to call the Lorelai the fourth, Emily.
"No, it's perfect. They're both named after their grandparents… at least I think. You're mother's name was Abigail right?" She'd read it in the paper when she was looking for Lorelai stories but she asked for confirmation.
Luke nodded an acknowledgment and turned to Emily. "It's okay with you too?"
Emily's loss for words, streaming tears and gaping mouth made Luke nervous but brought a smile to Lorelai's face.
"Mom, you know I tried to get him to switch it to Abigail Emily, but he insisted. I mean if you don't like it then we can just name her Java Flannel after the both of us," Lorelai's smile was now a large grin knowing that her sarcasm would startle Emily from her shocked trance.
"Lorelai, really." Emily's way of saying Lorelai's name was also a conversation. In this case, it meant 'You're being ridiculous Lorelai' which it often did. The matriarch sucked up her tears and breathed. She turned to Luke, "Thank you, I'm honored. Richard would be too. I wish he could see this."
Rory rubbed her grandmother's back in soft circles with her palm. "He's here, he sees this grandma. I know he does."
April, being who she was and not really reading the room, asked what she wanted to all along. "Can I hold one?"
Lorelai laughed and cautiously handed William over explaining the way to support his neck. April let out facts she knew about the neck of infants and adults as she complied with the instructions she was given. "What about you Jess? Care to take a shot at holding your baby cousin?"
"No thanks," he tried to protest.
"Aw come on Jess, it's almost like your little sister," Rory teased.
"I didn't hold Doula until she was 2," he offered dryly.
"Well now you can tell Emily you held her when she was nothing," Lorelai said and forced him to take her. His fear of the little infant was replaced by warm feelings and he did his best to suppress his goo goo eyes- which until then he didn't know he had. He then quickly passed her off to Emily.
"Emily Danes… Emily… How about that?" she cooed to the baby. "You, little girl, are very special." She toned her voice to where no one could completely hear but Lorelai swore it was promises of cotillions and such.
"Mom," Lorelai warned calmly knowing this was just the beginning of many battles. "Emily will decide for herself if she wants to do cotillions and all that fru-fru stuff."
"She will," Emily said cockily and then handed the girl to her father.
April handed her little brother over to Rory after she was done and she did not suppress her goo goo eyes at all. "Careful Rory, you just had a girl, you don't need a boy too," Lorelai warningly joked as her heart was melted at the sight of it.
"This family has enough babies for now," Rory deadpanned. "But just to be safe…" she drolled and then passed the baby to Emily who was eagerly waiting.
"William Richard, your grandfather would have loved to meet you," she sighed and then thinking of his other name added, "I am willing to bet they both would." This made Luke smile a melancholy smile. He knew his parents would have indeed been very proud, but it also gave him a pang of sadness of their absence.
An old man sittin' not 10 feet away
Just lost his wife and he said to me
You've got a brand new angel and I've lost mine
I guess the good Lord giveth and the good Lord taketh away
And we both wiped a teardrop from our face
"We should usher in the next group," Rory said after a few moments of pause.
"Mom, why don't you stay?" Lorelai asked. "There's plenty of space in this ginormous room you purchased. There are 3 chairs and a couch. Pick one and stay. Please?"
Emily smiled at the invitation and readily accepted as Rory ushered the other kids out.
"There go our first 3 pancakes," Lorelai said squeezing Luke's hand. "They came out pretty good."
"Yeah," he agreed. "They did."
And another tear fell. This time, it was from Lorelai's eyes. That tear was for her happiness at the life she had. The same sadness that Luke had of missing his mom and dad, welled up inside of her. "I miss you dad," she whispered after the door closed. Luke rubbed her shoulder in understanding. The words rang true to them all. Three tear drops fell.
Lorelai looked at the babies now in their basinets sleeping and smiled. "The ocean's a little bit bigger tonight."
Oh the ocean's a little bit bigger tonight
Two more teardrops somebody cried
One of them happy and one of them bluer than blue
The tide goes out and the tide comes in
A whole new circle of life begins
Where tears are a part of the pleasure and part of the pain
'Til they drift on down and ride to the sea again
Please let me know what you think! Comments spur me on. I'm nearing the end of the story, though I'm not sure how many chapters that will be. I would love your input. I'll probably do an epilogue flash-forward to end the series when I do finish.
UPDATE Note: I added one line as I went through this for typos in the naming conversation between Luke and Lorelai. I felt it was missing a little something to thoroughly convince Lorelai of the name.
She stared at him with her tired blue eyes, thinking about how important mothers are. It reminded her of what Richard told her when Trix (his mother) passed away- You only have one set of parents, Lorelai, remember that. Her last remaining resolve to protest was dropping. With her dad gone, her mom was the only grandparent left.