A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad you liked it, and my whole Christmas story :D:D My deadline for this chapter was this weekend, mostly Sunday, but it's already finished and checked by my awesome beta. Thanks again hon! Don't forget to let me know what you think about this chapter ;)
Chapter 9 Baby talk
The first Friday night dinner after New Year's Eve, Luke and Lorelai decided to tell Richard about the baby. Lorelai's parents went away for a week after Christmas, to spend New Year's Eve with some friends in Providence. This was the first time Lorelai was going to tell this kind of news, while she wasn't nervous at all. Especially with Rory, but with Lucan as well, she was nervous as hell, and that's probably even lightly said. But now she knew that her father would be thrilled. He loved both of his grandchildren, and she knew he would love to get another one. She just hoped her mother hadn't told him yet. She wanted to see his face. But she didn't believe her mother would tell her secret. Maybe in the old days she would have, but not anymore.
Lorelai carried Lucan, while Luke carried the diaper bag, when they walked into the living room, Rory and Warren where already there. They had gone back to Yale the day before, because they had some homework that needed finishing, and had needed to use the library.
"Hello everybody." Richard smiled and stood up. "Hello Lucan. Do you want to come to grandpa?" Richard extended his arms and the little boy smiled, doing the same. "Lorelai do you mind?"
"Of course not." She handed Lucan to her father. "Where's mom?"
"She's upstairs, but she should be right here."
"Okay good. Let me get some drinks then." She noticed Rory and Warren already had something, so she turned to Luke. "Do you want a beer?"
"Yeah thanks."
She nodded as she went to get a beer for him and a glass of water for herself. Sitting down next to Luke, she waited patiently for her mother to come, while she watched the interaction between her father and her son.
"Hello." Emily walked in the living room a few minutes later, getting herself a drink and then sat down in one of the chairs.
"So, we have some news." Lorelai said, taking Luke's hand in hers.
"What is it Lorelai?" Richard looked up from his game, while Emily just smiled, already knowing what was coming.
"You're going to get another grandchild. Luke and I found out last week, when you were in Providence."
"That's wonderful Lorelai. How far along are you?"
"About nine weeks. I'm due August 10th."
Richard looked at his wife and saw her smiling, noticing that she didn't say anything. "Did you already know this?"
Emily nodded. "I noticed something during Christmas and I asked Lorelai if she was pregnant. She hadn't seen a doctor yet, so she didn't want anyone to know until she was a hundred percent sure."
"Grandma knew before me?" Rory asked, a hurt expression on her face.
"Your mother didn't want to tell me. I noticed her and Luke exchanging smiles during the movie we were watching on Christmas Eve, and I could tell there was something. So the next day I asked her if she was pregnant."
"So, why didn't you tell me then, huh?" Rory stood up and walked away.
"I'll go after her." Emily said.
"No, mom. This is something between her and me." Lorelai stood up and walked into the direction her daughter went. She found her upstairs, in the room her Emily had made for her a few years ago. Lorelai looked around, shocked all over again by the fact that her mother thought this was Rory. But that was the past. She knew that if her mother had the chance to do it over now, it would turn out completely different.
"Can I come in?"
Rory lifted her shoulders.
Lorelai walked in and sat down next to Rory on the bed. "I already told you why I didn't tell you right away Rory. It was never my intention to keep it from you. I just wanted to be sure before I told anyone. I wouldn't have told grandma if she hadn't asked about it, but when she guessed it, I couldn't deny it. Enough lies have been told in the past, and if I would have told her I wasn't pregnant then, and would have told her now that I was and she asked when I found out, she would have been hurt."
"So you hurt me instead." She stared at the sheets next to her, not wanting to look at her mother.
"Rory no, that was never my intention. You are right, I should have told you right away, but the previous months weren't easy on me and you know that. Home pregnancy tests are not completely accurate, especially if you don't take them in the morning. I know I took three, and they all turned out positive, but I was almost afraid to believe it. I did not want to get disappointed again. I ignored the fact that I felt pregnant, that my behavior at the time was totally leading towards being pregnant, and waited until I was completely sure. That was not until Doctor Elder told me, after doing whatever kind of pregnancy test doctors do with your blood. I know I was already happy about it, but like I said, if all the signs had be wrong, if I had just imagined them, and those home tests were wrong and I wasn't pregnant, I know I would have fallen apart. I had to tell Luke because he is my husband, and he would have been hurt if I hadn't told him right away. I know that you are hurt right now, but try to imagine how it would have been for him. And I know that I can go on forever and it won't help because you're hurt and I would have felt the complete same way if I was in your position. I'm so sorry Rory. You're right. You're a grown woman, and I should have told you right away."
Lorelai stared at her daughter intently, hoping to get some kind of reaction.
Rory finally looked up in her mother's eyes, and saw regret and even sadness. "If I'm a grown woman, then why am I acting so childish right now? I'm jealous at grandma. UGH…." She was obviously frustrated with herself. "I should be happy you told her right away, because this is the proof that you are finally getting along. From when I was a little girl, that is all I ever wanted. What is three days of not knowing compared to this?"
"It's easy to know something, but it's difficult when you feel completely the opposite on the inside, isn't it?"
"Yeah it is." Rory smiled. "I'm sorry mom."
"You don't have to be kid. I understand."
"You always do."
"Not always." A big smile appeared on Lorelai's face. "We're too much alike."
"You know what would be nice?"
"No?"
"If you'd get another daughter that was exactly like us, that would be rough on Luke."
"It would, but he would love her just as much as he loves you, with all her strange habits. But really, I don't want a daughter just like you."
"You don't?" Rory looked hurt again.
"No, you're my special daughter. This thing between you and me, this is special, and I will never be able to have it with anyone else. This kid here, " she placed her hand on her abdomen, "will be special in it's own way, with it's own qualities and strange habits, just like you have too."
"But I want them to grow up the way I did. Lucan and that baby in there. I know it wasn't always easy, but I wouldn't change a thing. Even when we hardly had any money, you would always find something to make me happy. I always felt loved and safe and I felt like I had everything I wanted."
"It's impossible for them to grow up the way you did. Everything is different now. We have a real house instead of a shed; they have a father who is there for them constantly. When you were little I felt like I had to make up for the fact that Chris wasn't around. But I know that Luke will be around for them. They have someone else to turn too. I'm older now, and hopefully wiser. I wouldn't change the way you grew up either, although sometimes I wish we were living in a normal house, and I didn't have to say no to you every time you wanted something. To buy all the clothes for you that you liked, instead of making them myself, just because that was cheaper."
"But you always gave me everything I wanted."
"No I didn't. I don't think you remember, but when you were five years old, you wanted to have this dress. You were invited to Lane's birthday party and you wanted to look special. It was you very first party. We were in Hartford at the mall, because I had to pick up something for Mia, and in one of the windows you saw this beautiful dress. You wanted to have it so badly, but from the price tag that was hanging on it, I knew I could never afford a dress like that, so I had to tell you no. You started crying and hitting me with your arms. You let yourself fall down on the floor and started kicking with your feet and screamed. You kept saying 'I want that dress'. You were not my sweet little girl who wouldn't hurt a fly, and I had no idea what to do. Everybody around us started looking at us, giving me a disapproved look. I got many of those when I was with you, but normally I didn't care. But right at that moment I was desperate, not knowing what to do, and knowing there was no way I could give you what you so desperately wanted. I grabbed your arms and legs to stop them from moving, and I lifted you up, almost running out of that mall, completely forgetting why I was there in the first place.
Of course I had to explain to Mia what happened. She offered to give me the money for that dress, but I couldn't take it. Now it was the dress, but I knew it would be something different the next time, and you had to learn that when I said no, I meant no, no matter how hard it was for me. I drove back to the mall the next day when you were in school, and when I walked past the store I took in the dress and went into the fabric store and bought fabric to make a dress for you. The next few nights, when you were asleep, I worked on the dress. It wasn't the same as the one in the store, but I was very proud. In my eyes it was even prettier. When I showed it to you, the day before Lane's party, you started screaming all over again. 'It's not the same and I don't like it.' The next day you came around and wore the dress anyway and when everybody mentioned that you were wearing a beautiful dress, you announced with pride that your mother made it for you. What I'm trying to say is, even if I couldn't give you what you really wanted, I tried to find a way to give you something else to make up for it."
"And you always did. I don't remember the incident at the mall, or that I didn't like the dress. All I remember is going to Lane's party and everybody telling me what a beautiful dress I was wearing. And I was really proud."
"But if this baby is a girl, and she is five years old and sees a dress in a shop window, I'll be able to buy it for her."
"But that would be her loss, because the dresses you made for me were much better than any dress you can buy in a store."
"You're just saying that."
"No I'm not mom. I mean it. Remember all the dresses you made for me. The one I wore to the first dance when I was 16. I could never have found a dress like that. Every girl on that party was jealous. Even grandma didn't believe that you made it for me at first."
"That's true. So what do you say? I have to tell her no, and make her a dress instead?"
"It would be her loss if you didn't."
Lorelai pulled her daughter in a hug. "I love you, you know that right. And I really am sorry I didn't tell you."
"Don't be mom. I'm sorry. And I love you too."
"Good. Now what do you think, should we go back downstairs? I think they've called the police by now."
"Probably." They stood up and walked downstairs. In the living room they were acting like nothing was up. Emily was talking to Luke and Warren about something, and Richard was still playing with Lucan. "Look at that." Rory whispered.
"What?"
"At grandpa. He's totally focused on the car, and all Lucan is doing is watching him. I don't even think grandpa realizes that he's the one playing there, not Lucan."
Lorelai smiled and they watched the scene for a few minutes, until they walked further in the room, sitting back down on the couches and mingling in on the conversation.
-xxxxxx-
When they were leaving at the end of the evening, Emily stopped Lorelai on the way out. After Lorelai and Rory came back from upstairs, they did not mention the incident, so Emily wanted to know if everything was okay. Rory and Warren had already driven back to Yale, and Luke walked to the car to put Lucan in his car seat. "Is everything alright between you and Rory? You stayed upstairs quite a while."
"Everything is fine. Being Rory she was more angry with herself for being jealous, than with me for not telling her before I told you. We talked about it for a while and everything is definitely alright. Most of the conversation was about how raising Lucan and this baby is and will be different than raising her."
"How come?"
"She said that I should do it exactly the same, that that she wouldn't want to change anything for the world, but I explained to her that the situation is different now, so things will be different too."
"But at least it's a very nice thing to say. You should be proud at the young woman she became."
"Trust me, I am. Only a few months from now she'll be graduating from college."
Emily smiled. "Yeah she will. I can't believe how fast she grew up."
"Neither can I. When I look at Lucan I can only hope it won't go as fast again. But then I see what he learned and how independent he can already be. He can sit, he's starting to stand, and soon he'll be walking. He's starting to talk, although all he can say right now is dada. And he knows that Luke comes when he says it, or is willing to do anything for him when he does, so he's already misusing this new quality."
"He's totally your son."
"Yeah he is. Although he's definitely Luke's too. But it's interesting to see both Luke and me in him. You should see him when he's with Luke in the diner. Even now that he's so young, he's already starting to copy Luke. When Taylor comes in to annoy Luke, even before Luke is mad, Lucan is already putting on an angry face."
"I believe you're the one who taught him that." Luke showed up behind Lorelai.
"I did not."
"Yeah whatever. But are you coming or are you staying here tonight? I want to get my son to bed."
"Our son, and yes I'm coming. Thanks for dinner mom. I really had a good time."
"Me too Lorelai."
Lorelai smiled and took Luke's hand in hers. "See you next week mom."
"See you Lorelai."
Emily watched how Luke and Lorelai walked towards their car. And how Luke opened the door for her and helped her in, and then closed the door for her. Richard walked up behind her, putting his arms around her waist, and continued to watch with her. Luke walked around the car to the passenger seat and got in himself. They saw how Lorelai watched in her rear-view mirror when she drove backwards out of the driveway, and at the last moment looked to them, waving. Emily smiled and waved back, and kept waving until the car disappeared from her sight, then stepped out of Richard's embrace to close the door. She was getting cold.
"I can't believe you knew before me." He said, and all she did was smile.
-xxxxxx-
"Is Rory still mad at you?" Luke asked after five minutes of driving in silence. "You stayed away quite some time."
"No, she's fine. We talked about it for a while, and she was more jealous that mom knew before her, than she was angry."
"Oh, good."
"Yeah." She turned to look at him before focusing back to the road. "We talked about how Lucan and the new baby will never grow up the way she did. She said she wouldn't change a thing of the way she grew up, even though she realizes it wasn't always easy."
"That's a very nice thing to say."
"Yeah it was. But it'll never happen. Everything is different now. In a good way. I just always thought it would be the other way around, that she would be jealous that I can give them more than I could give her when she was little. But she said she always got what she wanted. I had to tell her that it wasn't true. I told her only one story, but there are so many examples. I told her that when she was five, she saw a dress in a shop window and she really wanted to have it, but of course, it was way too expensive. Instead I made her a dress, trying to copy the dress from the store. But of course it is impossible to make it exactly the same. I worked on it very hard, and when I finished it, I was so proud. I couldn't wait to give it to her, but when I did she got angry, screaming that that wasn't the dress she wanted. I dealt with her but that night I cried so hard that I couldn't give her everything she wanted. I did not tell her that part of the story by the way. Anyway, the next day she came around and when she wore the dress to Lane's birthday party and everybody commented her dress, she was so proud, making me feel pretty good. But I still had that nagging feeling inside me, you know."
"I understand. If this baby is a girl you can buy her all the dresses she wants."
"That's what I told Rory, but then she said it would be the little girl's loss, because it's much better to have one of the dresses I made." Lorelai smiled. "It would be nice to get a girl and to make clothes for her. I never made anything for Lucan because I don't know what. It's just easier to buy boy's clothes."
"He's going to get jealous of his little sister then."
"When he does, I'll try to make him a dress shirt, or some pants or something. Actually that's not even a bad idea. I could do that right now. I just never really thought of it."
Luke smiled at his wife as the ideas ran through her mind. There was one more subject he wanted to talk about, a subject they had been putting off for over a week now but that they had to discuss this weekend. He thought for a while but decided to bring it up anyway.
"Lorelai?"
"Yeah?" She glanced at him, trying to read his face.
"We still have to talk about that test."
She sighed knowing immediately what he was talking about. "We talked about it when I was pregnant with Lucan. I don't feel like anything changed."
"But what if something is wrong? Wouldn't you like to know?"
"What would you do if something appears to be wrong, if we take the test?"
"I don't know. That's hard."
"But that's the first question you have to ask yourself Luke. Would you want to abort this baby, not have it?"
"I….. I don't know."
"That's killing it. Killing our kid Luke."
"I know." He sighed. "I know."
"I don't want to have this discussion right now. Not in front of Lucan."
"But he's not even a year old. He doesn't understand what we are saying."
"That's fair, but this is something between you and me and even though he doesn't understand simply because he's too young, doesn't mean we should have this discussion in front of him. I know we have to talk about it, because obviously we don't feel the same way, but it has to wait until we're home. We'll put the boy to bed, and then we'll talk. Okay? And in between, think about it. Think about what you would do and what it means to you, okay? Otherwise we don't even have something to discuss in the first place."
He nodded. "Okay." He had been thinking about it for over a week now, and still he didn't know where he stood."
When they got home Lorelai put Lucan to bed. Luke stayed downstairs, grabbed himself a beer and sat down on the couch. He waited patiently for Lorelai to come back. It didn't take her long since the boy was already asleep. Sitting down next to him she said "now we can talk."
"Sorry for bringing it up in the car. It just felt like we've been putting it off and there is not that much time. But you're right. We shouldn't make decisions like this in front of him. If we don't teach ourselves now, we'll forget about it when he gets older too."
"That's what I thought. And I know we've been keeping it off and I'm sorry. It's just that for me, it's simple. That test won't tell us how disabled the kid would be, if it turns out that something is wrong, even thought there's only a 1 change. Who says that the kid won't be able to live a perfectly happy life? I don't think I could kill this child just because it isn't perfect."
"I never said I could."
"I know that Luke, I know. I know it wouldn't be easy, but in the end I don't think it would matter to me. I would love this kid as much as I love Rory and Lucan and we would learn to adjust our lives to take care of it. The only thing the test would change is that we know in advanced so we can prepare, but do we want to take any risks if we decide that it wouldn't make a difference anyway?"
He took in her words and tried to place his own feelings in where she was standing.
When he kept silent, she decided to say a little more. "When I was pregnant with Lucan, we only discussed this because Doctor Elder brought it up. And that's the same situation right now. Do you honestly worry about this? Do you think that for the rest of the pregnancy, you're going to be worried that something is wrong with this kid? Because if you will be, then I'm willing to take the risks, and do one of those tests. You can even pick which one you prefer because I don't want you to worry. I want us to enjoy this pregnancy, even with the morning sickness that nicely started this morning. Even with the sore and swollen ankles I will get in a few months and all the weird cravings. I think this is the last time we can enjoy the pregnancy stage. After this kid is born our family will be complete. We'll have three amazing kids and at that point it will be enough, don't you think. We're not getting any younger and even though my parents will be willing to pay them all the way through college, who knows what happens in between.
When I was pregnant with Rory I never had the change to enjoy the pregnancy. I was only 16 years old. And even though I loved being pregnant with Lucan, I couldn't feel completely happy most of the time because Rory wasn't there. And this time is supposed to be different. Our whole family is here and we're supposed to enjoy this, every single moment of it, and if you can't because you're too worried about the health of this kid, we have to do something about it." She took a deep breath, trying to read his face.
He was lost in his thoughts and it took him a while to realize that she stopped talking. He looked up at her, staring at the expecting look on her face and he repeated her words in his mind. A smile appeared on his face. "You would do that for me?"
"I would do anything for you." She didn't have to think about her response. "Just ask me, and I'll do it. No doubts."
"Even if I asked you to never drink coffee again. Ever? Or to change your eating habits and forget about junk food and eat only healthy stuff?"
She looked shocked, not expecting this although she knew she should have. Their conversation was just so serious a minute ago, that she never expected him to bring up something like this. "Well, almost anything?" She raised her eyebrows.
He smiled. "I figured." He then pulled her in a hug. When he pulled apart a minute later, he pulled her in his lap, putting a hand on her stomach. "I want this baby more than anything in the world. I know the test wouldn't make a difference, and you're right, we shouldn't take any risks when it won't matter. And deep down I know that this kid will be okay, just like Lucan, and make our family complete like you just said. I don't need a stupid test to prove that."
"You don't." She looked into his eyes.
"No I don't. I promise you that we will enjoy every moment of this pregnancy, without worries."
A big smile appeared on her face. "Good. I'm glad you feel that way."
"Me too."
"Do you remember the conversation we had in the middle of the night, after we decided that we wanted to have another kid?"
"Kind off…."
"Where are we going to put this kid Luke? This house is not big enough."
"I guess we have to move then." He tried to measure her reaction.
"I guess we should then." She sighed, the tone of her voice showed her sadness.
"You don't want to move." It was a statement.
"If it's what we have to do, we should do it. It's only a house; we can get another one and make it feel like home. Build new memories there. We can't let this baby sleep in our room, until Rory gets married and then give it her room. Or put it in Lucan's room until then. So I guess if we have to move, we should do it now. We should look around and see what's available in town at the moment, because I don't want to leave Stars Hallow. That's one thing."
"You don't want to move."
"Sometimes you just have to move on, leave a part of your life behind, and continue somewhere else. It's kind of funny, but do you know how hard it was to move in here in the first place? I was living in a shed, but I made it a home for Rory and me. We felt at home, and it was small but it felt safe. It somehow felt bigger than my parents' house ever felt, and definitely more at home. I was proud when I finally had enough money so I was able to afford this place, we decorated, bought furniture, but the last night I spent in the shed all I could do was cry. I didn't sleep all night but I needed the time to find the courage to move on. At least I still saw the place every day when I went to work, and it didn't take long before we started feeling at home in here. It was even harder to leave the independence Inn, to follow my dreams to have my own Inn. Even though it was hard that the Inn burned down, maybe it made it easier because we had no choice anymore. We had to find new jobs for ourselves and it was the perfect timing to follow our dreams then. So maybe it's time to move on now. It was my dream to have the whole package, and we need a house big enough to fit the whole package in, and this isn't it."
He knew she was trying to convince herself, not telling him just a nice story. He thought about this a lot since they decided to have another kid, and he already had a plan. He smiled, knowing that he had been able to keep this a secret from her for months now. "We don't have to move."
She interrupted him right away. "But Luke we do. This house isn't big enough to fit in a baby. We have no spare rooms, nor do we have room to make a spare room. We can't put this kid in the attic. I know that as long as it is a baby it only needs a couple of square feet or so, but it'll grow and we really need more space."
"If you'd let me finish for once, I can explain to you why we don't have to move."
"But we can't give this kid Rory's room. You said that we wouldn't do that. You said that right?"
He sighed in frustration. "Yes I said that, and we won't give this kid Rory's room. Are you willing to listen to me now, or will you keep interrupting me, because than I'd rather go to bed. I have to open the diner tomorrow."
"No I'll listen. I'm sorry. What were you saying?"
"We don't have to move. I know how much this house means to you, and how many memories you have here. I know how you pictured us getting old together in this house, and I like that thought. I too have a lot of memories here and I'd love to stay here for as long as possible. So after we made the decision to have another kid, and your freak-out in the middle of the night, I came up with a plan."
"A plan huh?" She smiled. "And when were you planning on telling me?"
"That would be now, that is, if you keep your mouth shut for longer than five seconds."
She wanted to open her mouth to respond, but decided against it when she saw the look on Luke's face, and besides that she was curious.
"Good." He smiled. "I have something for you." He stood up, walked to the desk standing in the corner of the room, opened a drawer and pulled something out. Sitting back on the couch he handed it to Lorelai.
"What is it?"
"Open it."
Lorelai opened the cardboard quiver Luke handed her, and pulled out a piece of paper. Putting the quiver aside, she rolled the paper open and saw a drawing. "What is this?"
"This is the blueprint of the house."
She looked at the piece of paper, trying to make out the different rooms, and finally smiled. "That's nice Luke, but what are we supposed to do with it?"
"We're supposed to change it. I talked to an architect and he said it's possible to add a room in the back. We could add it to the front, but that would change the way the house looks, and the lighting would be bad and all, but there aren't as many windows in the back. Only the one in the door from the back entrance. He says it's possible to add to the entire back wall, but that would make the house very big, and I don't think that's necessary. If we decide to add to the living room, we have to change and redecorate that, if we decide to add to the kitchen, we have to remove the window at the side of the house and make the back entrance a side entrance because it's not safe to have only one entrance. The architect made a few drawings, but I have those at the diner. I'll show them to you tomorrow if you like."
"You would really do that? Spend money on adding to this house rather than buying another one?"
"No matter what we do, we have to spend money anyway. It's been a while since we did anything with the house so if we tried to sell it right this way, it probably wouldn't bring up its value. But really, you love this house and you don't want to move, and for me it doesn't matter where I live, as long as I'm with you. And I love living here."
"So we have to decide how we want to remodel? I've never really thought about that before. I mean, since you moved in we didn't do much with the house. The only room that is changed is Lucan's room, but most of it is just like it was before, except that we moved in your stuff." They discussed remodeling when Luke moved in, but that somehow ended up in the background, so most they did was moving in his stuff, and mingling everything together. "I think it's time that we really make it our house."
"It already is."
"I know it is, but it will be nice to redecorate the living room, painting it in a color we both like, maybe buying some new furniture. I had this couch forever, and even though I have very good memories about it, I think we could use something new. And same goes for other things. Although I'm not sure if I like the idea of having a door at that wall." She started at the wall behind her television and tried to picture a door. "Plus, it will be pretty noisy if we add the baby's room to the living room. I think it's better to have the kitchen in between. But I don't really need the kitchen changed. But then again we probably have to, right?"
"I thought about the noise problem, and even though the kid will get used to it, it might be a good idea to have the bedroom a little further away like you said. What if she becomes one of those kids that gets out of her bed after hearing a little noise. We wouldn't even be able to watch TV."
Lorelai had a huge smile on her face. "You said she."
"You were the one saying that we would get another girl, but I wouldn't mind to get another boy either. A father can never have enough sons. I could teach both of my sons to play baseball and other kinds of sports. It'll be fun. But really, it would be nice to teach my daughter how to play baseball too."
"Not if she looks like me. But back to being serious, I don't know a lot about building rooms and adding doors in places where windows are, but I trust you with that. I guess we should start as soon as possible."
"We have to wait a few months since it's winter now, but I think we can start in March. I'll make sure everything is arranged before then, and I'll give you some concrete plans soon. And if you want to redecorate the living room, that's fine by me."
"Good. So we're really going to stay here?"
"We're really going to stay here. And I don't know what you're doing right now, but I'm heading to bed. I still have to open the diner tomorrow, and it's getting pretty late."
"I'm pretty tired myself, so I'm going where you're going."
She watched how Luke stood up, and stood up herself. But as she stood up a little too quickly, she felt dizzy. Luke grabbed her arm and steadied her. "You okay?"
She needed a few seconds to control herself and nodded. "I'm fine. I got up a little too fast, but I'm definitely fine." She turned a little so she was in his arms. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close and she kissed him. "You're the best husband in the world, you know."
"Really?"
"Uhuh… I bet you're even willing to carry me up the stairs 'cause I'm way too tired to walk."
"You're very well capable of walking yourself."
She pouted. "But upstairs is so far away, and I'm so tired. And it's very hard work to carry a baby 24 hours a day."
"A baby that's like this big." He pulled his thumb and his index finger apart to indicate how big the baby was right now."
"Yeah, and it will only get bigger and heavier. And there are still…." She couldn't say more as he suddenly lifted her off the ground into his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and smiled. "Thanks."
"Yeah, yeah. As long as you don't think I'll be doing this every night." He used his usual grumpy voice, but Lorelai knew he'd carry her up and down the stairs ten times a day if she'd ask him to.