Notes:
I know I already posted this in this story, but a reminder never hurts. Please, please please, do not put spoilers in your reviews. I'm not saying, don't review, believe me. I love reviews. I want to marry them. But I'm spoiler free and some people who read what other people say in their reviews are also spoiler free. This includes being optomistic/pessimistic about what may or may not happen in the future on showGG. When the episodes start to air, feel free to comment on what has already been aired. Thank you much for your support.
squiddrude - Well, she had already asked if she could call him Dad, but many reviewers said that they didn't think she should always call him Dad. I'm still deciding how she will refer to him most of the time. What do you think?
cywen69 - Well, first of all, Luke couldn't just run off to the hospital and leave Liam with Babette and Patty. But really, I think he would have been there right away if Rory hadn't stopped him. I love Babette and Patty so much, they're so much fun to write. I don't get to include the townies much so it's nice when I get the chance.
gilmore-gurl-13 - I'm not sure if that's the record, probably either you or Katie has the record. I've read so many where they have a baby and everything is picture perfect, and don't get me wrong, I like that too, but I thought I'd be a little different, plus there's so much that's happened with Lorelai so far in the story I felt this had to be done.
smileyGGfan - Welcome back. Glad that Christopher was bareable for you, that's what I was going for. Ah, the Luke/Rory awkward hugs, they're the greatest. Haha, you caught my Dr. Suess line. I agree, what a great book.
Luke and Lorelai's House
Just about the entire town is milling around inside the house. Rory and Lane are hiding in Rory's bedroom with Liam, who is somehow sleeping peacefully in Rory's arms. The two are sitting, facing each other on Rory's old bed. "So you think this is too much? You think Mom's going to go ape the minute she walks in the door?" Rory asks Lane, a little worried. Lane shakes her head, rubbing Rory's arm.
"No, Rory, she's going to love it. I've known Lorelai forever and she pretty much loves anything you do," Lane responds. Rory nods, glancing down at Liam, smiling to herself.
"This is pretty amazing, you know?" Lane nods. "I mean, I feel like so much has changed so fast, and it's hard to catch my breath."
"Like when 'My So-Called Life' was there and then it wasn't."
"Exactly." The girls grin at each other.
"Jared Leto was so hot, whatever happened to him?" Lane asks.
"I think he quit acting to be part of a band." Lane frowns, nodding. "You should write and ask if he wants to join Hep Alien."
"Well, we're doing well right now, even without that gig at CBGBs," Lane says.
"And you're doing all right living here?" Lane nods.
"I feel ever more helpful here," Lane tells Rory, who clearly knows what Lane is saying. "Rory, you are happy with the changes though, right?" Lane asks, not altogether sure. But Rory just smiles.
"Yeah, I'm happy. You know we watched all those movies, all those TV shows with those perfect families. Even the kids on Step-By-Step got along and they weren't related. I feel like I'm finally getting that. Dad's here, Mom's here, they're getting married. I've got siblings, who are so adorable and I'm just crazy about them. Things are finally going right for this Gilmore Girl."
"You bet they are," Lane agrees, softly hitting Rory in the arm.
Hearing a car door slam, Lane rushes to the window and looks out. "Is it them?" Rory asks. Lane looks back at Rory and nods. Rory slowly stands up, doing her best not to wake Liam and looks out the window. Luke helps Lorelai out of the truck. He puts an arm around her, leading her in the house as she holds Olivia in her arms. Lane and Rory share a tense look. "This is it." They walk out of Rory's room and into the family room just as Luke opens the door, letting Lorelai enter first.
As Luke and Lorelai walk in the living room, Lorelai stops in her tracks, finally noticing that her house is filled with people. Instead of yelling surprise as one would think, the room goes silent and still. "Mom!" Rory exclaims, pushing to the front. Lane is following closely behind her. Luke glances over Lorelai's shoulder to see his fiancée's expression, but Lorelai's got a poker face on. She stares at all the people in her house, and finally lets her gaze drift to Rory. "Mom, we – everyone in Stars Hallow – we wanted to welcome Olivia home since we never got to throw you a baby shower," Rory exclaims. Lorelai presses her lips together, slowly processing the information. Rory shares a concerned look with Luke.
"Thanks," Luke says to the gathered crowd. He clears his throat. "Thanks everyone for coming over." Lorelai glances up at Luke and then out at the townies. She nods slightly.
"Yes, thank you," Lorelai adds quietly. Luke rubs her shoulder, causing Lorelai to smile slightly, relaxing her a bit.
"Is this okay?" Rory asks, a little worried. Lorelai doesn't respond as she stares at the people gathered around her, a far away look in her eyes. Babette walks to the front of the group.
"Hey Sugar," Babette says, lightly touching Lorelai's arm. "If this is too much for you, we can just go home and celebrate a different day, it's up to you, whatever you want."
"No," Lorelai responds quietly. "No, it's fine. This – this is fine – now is fine."
"Can I hold Olivia?" Rory asks. Lorelai nods. Rory hands Liam off to Lane and Lorelai slowly lets Rory gather Olivia in her arms. "She's so small."
"You were small too," Lorelai whispers, running a finger down Olivia's cheek. "You looked exactly like this, small, blue eyes, pink skin." Rory giggles.
"Mo-om, all babies look like that!"
"Not Kirk, I remember when he was born, he was a pudgy little kid!" Babette exclaims. Kirk pouts, looking down at the ground.
"I grew out of it!" Kirk insists. Lorelai looks up at Rory.
"Same features, but a different look in your eyes," Lorelai whispers. She and Rory share a look and then Lorelai quickly glances away. "I'm going to go upstairs and change." Luke reaches out and grabs her arm.
"You sure you're okay with this?" Luke asks, the concern clear in his voice. Lorelai's lips curve as if she's attempting a smile.
"Yeah, fine. I just – I need to change – get out of these clothes. I'll be right back," Lorelai promises. Luke nods. Lorelai turns and walks upstairs. Luke and Rory share a tense look.
Sookie walks over with Davey in her arms. "Davey, meet Olivia, you guys are going to grow up together and have fun and go on play dates," Sookie says to the infant in her arms.
"Sookie," Luke warns. She shoots him a questioning look. "Don't try to marry my daughter off to your son on her first day home from the hospital."
"Will tomorrow work for you?" Sookie teases.
"Sookie!" Luke shouts. Sookie and Rory laugh. "I know what little plans you and Lorelai have in mind but Olivia's not allowed to date until she's thirty and even then the boy will have to go through some very vigorous tests before the date."
"Well Rapunzel, it was nice knowing ya," Sookie says to Olivia. She winks at Rory, who giggles.
"It's a good thing Olivia has a big sister who will have to deal with your overprotectiveness much before she's old enough to date," Rory says.
"You've already begun dating," Luke notes, folding his arms over his chest.
"I didn't mean me! I meant April!" Rory responds.
"Oh," Luke remembers. "Oh!" he adds, realizing what's in store for him.
"Luke, your son is so adorable that I almost want one of my own," Lulu says, walking over to them with Liam in her arms.
"Lane!" Luke shouts. Lane, who is in deep conversation with Morey, glances over at Luke. "I thought you were keeping an eye on my son!"
"I was, Lulu offered to hold him to give my arms a rest and so I let her. She's not Andrea Yates," Lane snips. Luke sizes Lulu up and then sighs. He glances at his watch and then shares a look with Rory.
"I'm going to go check on Lorelai, make sure she's all right, can you just try to keep things calm here?" Luke asks. Rory nods. "And please, don't let anyone else hold my kids, I want them in one piece."
"I promise, Dad." Luke glances at Liam and then at Olivia and then walks up the stairs. He walks down the hall and into the bedroom he shares with Lorelai. She's sitting on the edge of the bed, not facing him, her hands folded in her laps, staring off at nothing.
"Lorelai," Luke calls softly, walking over to stand in front of her. She doesn't respond. "Lorelai," he says again, kneeling in front of her, placing a hand on her knee. She slowly looks down, not quite looking into his eyes. "You okay?"
"Yeah…" she breathes. But Luke can see the tears in her eyes. "I just – I needed a minute."
"Anything I can do?" Lorelai shakes her head.
"No, I was just thinking – about things – just needed some time – to think – about things," Lorelai responds. Luke nods, not being able to think of the right thing to say. He swallows the lump that has formed in his throat.
"I just don't like seeing you upset, Lorelai," Luke tells her.
"I'm fine," Lorelai replies quickly. She flashes him a smile. "Really, I just needed a minute, I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm sure. I'll be down in a minute, I'm just going to change." Luke stands, but doesn't move to leave the room. "Really Luke, I'll be down." Luke sighs, but gives in, placing a kiss on her temple and leaves the room. Lorelai closes her eyes tight, taking deep breaths, willing the throbbing pain in her forehead to go away.
Luke walks down the stares and searches out Rory in the crowd. "Is she okay?" Rory asks, deep concern in her eyes.
"She says she is, but I – I just – I don't know. Marilyn Monroe seemed okay on the outside," Luke expresses. Rory smiles softly, touching Luke's arm. Sookie now holds Olivia, having allowed Patty to take Davey.
"Those closest to her were concerned, they just didn't know what to do," Rory tells Luke.
"I don't know what to do," Luke responds, running a hand through his hair. He sighs. "She seems so lost but I just can't get through to her."
"Do you want me to try?" Rory offers. Luke nods.
"Yeah, I mean I don't want to put you in the position…"
"Me? I'm her daughter? I've been taking care of her for 19 years, I oughta be able to do something." Luke nods, not really placing any hope in this. "Go get something to eat and I'll go get Mom." Rory squeezes Luke's shoulder and walks upstairs.
Rory walks into the bedroom to find Lorelai searching through the clothes in her closet. "I can't find that sweater," Lorelai complains. Rory walks over to stand next to her.
"Which one?"
"You know the one with the purple and the black and the thing." Lorelai motions. Rory nods.
"Yeah, I borrowed that, I think it's at Yale."
"You're stretching out my clothes again!" Lorelai exclaims. She winks at Rory.
"I just didn't think you'd be back into your old clothes this soon. Most people take months to lose the pregnancy weight." Lorelai looks at Rory like she's crazy.
"How would you know?" Rory shrugs. "Exactly." Lorelai touches a finger to her chin as she stares at the clothes in her closet.
"Mom, are you okay?" Rory asks in a small voice.
"What?" Lorelai takes a top out of her closet, looking it over.
"Well, Luke was concerned." Lorelai glances past the shirt at Rory.
"Well he shouldn't be," Lorelai snaps, a displeased look on her face. "Besides, what's he doing talking to you about it? He should learn to just keep his thoughts to himself and not get everyone so riled up."
"He wasn't!" Rory insists. "He's just worried. He doesn't like seeing you upset, none of us do."
"I'm not upset, I just needed a moment to figure things out. There's a lot going on right now Rory and it's nothing you need to be worrying about. You should just be concentrating on Yale. That's all you have to do," Lorelai responds coldly. Rory frowns.
"Does this have to do with Chris's visit?" Rory asks. Lorelai stares at Rory in shock.
"No, it's got nothing to do with Chris. Did Luke say something about that?" Lorelai asks.
"No, this is my own thoughts. I just want to know what's going on with you, we always told each other everything, that was our special thing," Rory responds. Lorelai sighs, knowing what Rory's getting at. "Mom, I want you to know, Kate loves Kurt like a father. She loves her new siblings and they love her and they love Goldie just as much as Kate did when she was a baby. It's just that this time Bill isn't going to ditch because Goldie's got Kurt and he's a keeper." Lorelai watches Rory for a moment, pondering Rory's statement.
"Message sent. Now Kate needs to concentrate on her burgeoning career so that Goldie can try to resurrect hers with help from Susan Sarandon and Bette Midler." Rory grins causing Lorelai to smile back. Lorelai reaches out and rubs Rory's arm. "You're a great kid, Ror."
"Thanks, now let's pick out a great outfit so that we can go down and join the party. You don't want the twins being hugged to death by the citizens of Stars Hallow," Rory warns her mother who shakes her head vigorously. "Good." Rory picks out a sleek pink dress.
"That's the Lorelai look I was looking for!" Lorelai exclaims. She takes the dress from Rory, looking it over.
"Good. Now I'm going downstairs and you've got two minutes before I charge back up her and physically drag you back down." Lorelai salutes. "I'm timing you!" Rory calls asks she walks out.
Lorelai stares at the dress, her smile quickly disappearing. She hears a small cry from one of the twins and frowns. Scratching her head, she sighs. But she takes the dress off the hanger and begins to get ready for the party.