Notes:

Hey all, long time. All is well, sister's married off and I'm back to writing (shocker). The wedding was so beautiful. I cried so much. Man, it made me really want showLL to get married soon so badly!

About the baby name: I can't tell you how many names I went through before I chose Olivia. I had chosen her middle name back when Luke and Lorelai got together, which is why I had Luke quote Annabel Lee, but her first name was a toughie. I wanted a story to go with the name and I remembered the story about Olivia de Havilland and thought it was perfect for the story and that's why I ended up with Olivia instead of the other names I was considering.

Ronata - Thanks for the best wishes, wedding was great. You're right, Luke is the difference. She needs to realize what she's got in Luke.

You've Got Wings Baby - I'm glad you like the baby name. Gertrude.. no way, didn't even make the top ten. Yeah Lorelai's just feeling overwhelmed and though she feels like she's doing a bad job, she's really not and she can say it all she wants but she loves her kids, she really does.

cywen69 - Chris will be back sometime in the next 5-10 chapters. He won't question the paternity because she would have had to be 11 months pregnant when the twins were born for them to be his. I think I've got enough drama going on here and I really don't want to do a whole thing with Chris trying to be with Lorelai again, especially because he already told her that he knows she loves Luke.

rachel - I'm interested in why you think the Lorelai in my story is so different from the one on the show. I try for the most part to make my Lorelai exactly like showLorelai. I love when L&L fight on the show too, I mean Say Something is one of my favorite episodes. So fabulous. You can see the undeniable chemistry between them during the fights. (I think I've said all of that to you before.)

lukelover87 - Carolyn, I'm so glad you love the story and that you liked the engagment scene. You had me all worried that it wasn't Luke like. Also thank you much for my 800th review! (a special gold star is headed your way)

Robinpoppins - Okay, you said you typed out a long review and it was lost, was it actually longer than the one you left? I think Nashville is central time zone, but I'm not even sure. I love how you summed up the whole story, wow, and really got what I'm trying to do with Lorelai, or at least why Lorelai's in the situation she's in, why everything's suddenly coming down on her at once. I'm so glad you think that Olivia de Havilland story is a Lorelai-like way to name her baby, I thought so too. I'm trying to remember myself what Rory was going through and yes the 'Chris issues' was some of it but it was also close to when she was forced to drop that class at Yale and couldn't get ahold of Lorelai and ended up crying on Dean's shoulder. And it is so like Luke to be frustrated by not being able to just fix everything, cuz that's what he does, he fixes things.

squiddrude - Welcome back! I'm glad I'm putting in just the right amount of fluff/drama for you. Basically that's what I'm going for. A Goldilocks of stories if you will.

smileyGGfan - Thanks for the congrats on the big 6-0. You know, I didn't even realize it myself. Haha, yes I got all the L's in, but she will be called Olivia in the future.

flcrkr - You're right we did discuss the proposal on the JJ thread a few weeks ago. I'm glad you said you liked the way he did it in this story. I mean, I think a proposal pretty much is going to be sappy no matter how you do it, but I tried to make to not too sacharrine sweet, so I'm glad you thought so.

NICU

A week later, Lorelai and Luke are called by Doctor Shaw to discuss how to proceed with Olivia. Luke carries Liam in his arms as they had no time to call a sitter, or a desire since Liam's still quite young. Lorelai has her arms folded across her chest, looking tense as ever. "There's one healthy looking boy," Dr. Shaw says smiling as he walks up to them. He cups the back of Liam's head as he looks at the child. "He's doing well?"

"If he would only sleep at night instead of during the day, I didn't realize I was bringing home a hamster," Luke jokes.

"Ah, that'll happen. He'll adjust but I wouldn't expect a full nights sleep anytime soon," Dr. Shaw tells them. He glances over at Lorelai. "And how are you doing young lady?"

"Fine," she says and sniffs. "I'm just fine." Dr. Shaw and Luke share a look.

"Did you suggest…?" Dr. Shaw begins to ask but Luke cuts him off with a shake of his head. Lorelai looks confused and glances at each of them.

"Dr. Shaw just suggested that maybe you'd like to meet with him, get a prescription for something to help you out," Luke explains vaguely. Lorelai squints one eye.

"A prescription?" she repeats.

"Yeah it's for…" Luke glances at the doctor.

"An off brand of Prozac," Dr. Shaw finishes. Lorelai scoffs.

"I'm fine," she insists with a shake of her head. "I can't believe you're going to him behind my back as if I'm Lisa Rowe or something."

"Lorelai, I wasn't – I didn't. He just suggested it the last time we were in, but I said I'd talk if over with you if I thought it was necessary," Luke says. Lorelai huffs again, tightening her arms across her chest, apparently not pleased with Luke's explanation. Luke glances with one eye up at the doctor who's gritting his teeth, they share a look that says they agree but neither of them wants to upset Lorelai right now.

"Why don't we go in and see your daughter?" Dr. Shaw suggests, trying to move them to a slightly safer topic. Luke glances at Lorelai, who sniffs but nods. "Gail, can you take Little Liam while we go in and see his sister?" Dr. Shaw asks the nurse who's walking out of the NICU.

"Sure will, come here Sweetie," she responds. Gail takes Liam from Luke and walks away. Lorelai glances over her shoulder at Gail and takes a deep breath. Luke touches her elbow and she blinks and looks at him.

"You okay?" he asks. Lorelai nods, pursing her lips.

"Okay?" Dr. Shaw asks.

"You're the Pied Piper," Lorelai replies, motioning for the doctor to go first. Luke and Lorelai follow the doctor into the room where they don sterile scrubs and then enter the NICU. They all walk over to Olivia's neonatal bed, Luke and Lorelai on one side and Dr. Shaw on the other. The doctor picks up Olivia's chart just to recheck what he already knows.

"So, Olivia's condition is the same, it hasn't improved or deteriorated," Dr. Shaw tells them.

"You made us come all the way here to tell us that?" Lorelai snaps.

"Lorelai," Luke warns, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"No, seriously, you could have called us and told us that, but you wouldn't have had to because we already knew, we knew yesterday and the day before and the day before that, that's how it's been since the moment she was born. So you have quite a nerve making us come all the way here, hoping for a change, and then saying that," Lorelai yells. Luke swallows, pressing his lips together.

"She likes her tirades when she gets upset," Luke tells Dr. Shaw, who raises his eyebrows. Lorelai glares at Luke.

"Ms. Gilmore, I didn't call you here just to tell you that. I wanted to tell you that we have given her all the injections of surfactant that we can give. She's been on a ventilator for two weeks now and that's not very healthy. I think we've gotten to a point where if we don't take her off now, she'll never get off life support," Dr. Shaw explains.

"Okay, then let's do that," Luke says agreeably. Lorelai is staring down at Olivia, running her tongue over her top teeth.

"I need to warn you though, if Olivia hasn't built up enough surfactant then she won't be able to breathe on her own yet. So it's up to you and there are a few options. We can leave her on life support until we know she's ready. We can take her off today and hope for the best. Or we can decide a set day that we'll take her off," Dr. Shaw tells them. Luke glances at Lorelai to get a response, but she's still looking down at her daughter. Luke squeezes her shoulder, trying to get a response.

"Lorelai, we have to make this decision," he tells her. Lorelai tears her eyes from the glass case and looks up at Luke, seeming very vulnerable. "Did you hear what Dr. Shaw said?" She nods slightly.

"Yes," she breathes and clears her throat. "Yes, I heard." Lorelai glances over at the doctor. "If we take Olivia off of the life support, can we put her back on if she deteriorates?" Dr. Shaw nods.

"Yes we can, but I need to warn you, if we do that, it's very likely that she will never come off the life support," he replies. Lorelai purses her lips, trying to decide. She looks back at Luke.

"What do you want to do?" she asks him. Luke turns her toward him, placing a hand on each of her shoulders.

"I think I'm willing to give it a try, but it's up to you, you're her mother," Luke responds.

"I'm willing to give it a try too. If she's anything like her namesake, she'll come through just fine, even stronger," Lorelai says. Luke nods, his eyes smiling.

"If she's anything like you, she'll rip the tube out herself," Luke teases. Lorelai gives him a slight smile. Luke lets go of one shoulder, wrapping the other arm completely around both of her shoulders, pulling Lorelai to his chest. She lays her head on his shoulder, watching Olivia. Luke nods to Dr. Shaw.

"Okay, well we can get that going now. You two should plan on staying around here for the day, just in case," Dr. Shaw warns them. They nod. He places a hand over the glass, closing his eyes for a moment. Lorelai bites her lower lip, wrapping an arm around Luke's back, pulling him tighter to her.

The nurse brings Dr. Shaw some gloves which he puts on and together they unhook the respirator from Olivia. The nurse picks up an infant ambubag helping Olivia adjust and then after a minute she removes the bag. All four of them are silent and still listening and waiting. Dr. Shaw leans in and listens, a small smile forms on his face. "She's breathing," he announces. Luke smiles broadly and Lorelai actually smiles for once, blinking back the tears that were forming in her eyes. Dr. Shaw touches Olivia's arm and then closes the glass.

"Now, that moment's over, but we just have to keep hoping it wasn't just a moment and she'll continue to improve," Dr. Shaw says.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Luke asks. Dr. Shaw shakes his head.

"There's nothing more we can do for her right now," Dr. Shaw responds.

"But she's going to be fine now?" Lorelai asks. Dr. Shaw shrugs.

"It's hard to say. I don't want to get your hopes up just to have her decompensate. All I can say is that babies are resilient, that much is in her favor, but for now we'll just have to wait and see," Dr. Shaw responds, trying to be as optimistic as possible.

"Oh…" Lorelai whispers, her chin trembling again as she reaches out hand to touch the glass. She presses her lips together as she tries to keep control of herself. Luke kisses her forehead, reminding Lorelai that he's still there.

"Why don't you two get something to eat, check on your son and come on back here a little later, hopefully we'll have some good news for you," Dr. Shaw suggests.

"Come on, Lorelai," Luke says, putting his hand back on her shoulder, trying to drag her away. She hesitates for a moment and then looks up at him. "You called Rory, she'll be here soon." Lorelai nods. "Come on." Lorelai glances once more at Olivia.

"Olivia," she whispers, trying to let her daughter hear her voice one last time. "Okay, let's go." She turns, takes Luke's hand and they walk out of the NICU.