Unconditional Presence

By: curlyk03

Rating: M. There is and will be sexual content.

I own nothing but the right to have an imagination.

Enjoy!

He searched her eyes for a while, not saying anything. He watched her eyes close and caringly kissed her forehead. "I do love you." He admitted in an almost silent voice. Her eyes sprang open at his confession. He watched her eyes glaze over as she bit her lip.

"Wow, Tristan Dugrey…falling in love." She said and nodded.

"I didn't think it would happen. Correction, I didn't think it could happen." She smiled widely and placed her hand over his.

"I love you too, Tristan." She watched as a smile engulfed his features. He leaned down and kissed her soundly, pulling her against him. After a few minutes, he pulled away.

"Try and get some sleep, okay?" She nodded and he stopped her as she went back onto her left side. "Put this on. I don't want your mom freaking out if she sees us both naked." Rory blushed and accepted his T-shirt, remembering the time a month or so prior. He quickly put his boxers back on and scooted under the covers, helping Rory after she pulled the shirt over her large belly.

"My stomach is going to stretch your shirt." She bit her lip sympathetically.

"It's alright, it's just a shirt." She laughed softly and shook her head, settling onto her side. Tristan pressed his body against her once again and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Night beautiful."

"Goodnight, Tristan."

One month later

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Lorelai asked for what seemed like the 23rd time.

"Yes, mom. I'll be fine. Tristan is going to stay with me and he has a car. I'm just over 8 months anyway. I'll be fine!"

Lorelai nodded solemnly. "Okay, but if you need anything, call me, okay? I can be home in a jiffy!"

"Well, technically a jiffy is hundredth of a second so I think it's impossible to get from North Carolina to Connecticut in a jiffy, but—"

"Hush, child." Rory smiled up from her position on the couch.

"One hot chocolate." The two women turned and watched as Tristan handed Rory a mug.

"Thanks, honey bun." Tristan snorted and rolled his eyes. For the past 2 ½ weeks, Rory had been coming up with every cliché nickname she could for Tristan.

"Any time, darling." He retorted. Lorelai clapped excitedly, but her excitement quickly disappeared when the sound of a horn sounded from outside.

"I guess that's my ride."

"Mom, I'll be fine! Go see how much better the Dragonfly Inn is than that Inn in North Carolina." Lorelai sighed and nodded.

"You two be good, okay?" They both nodded. "And Tristan, take care of my baby." She paused. "Well, and your baby too." Lorelai couldn't help but chuckle at her own pun. Tristan smiled and nodded.

"I promise to make sure no harm will come to both your baby and my baby." Lorelai nodded approvingly and kissed Rory on the head and gave Tristan a hug.

"Bye!" She called as she picked up her luggage and headed out.

"Okay, time for hot, wild sex." Tristan said the minute the door was shut. Rory giggled and patted the pillows next to her. He moved her and sat down, letting her cuddle up against him.

"Thank you for staying with me."

"Anything, Rory." She smiled and leaned up, kissing him.

"I love you." She said against his lips.

"Mm, ditto. I love you too." He gave her a quick peck and squeezed her against him. "So what are we watching first?"

She grinned evilly and pressed play on the remote. An immediate groan erupted from Tristan as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory started to play. "It doesn't get much better than this, shnookums." She said matter of factly.

"Oh, I so beg to differ." Tristan grumbled but sat back and watched the movie anyway.

Three days later

"Mary, I'm back!" Tristan called through the house. He was met with silence as he went straight to the kitchen and placed the bags of food on the table. A sudden craving for Cheese Whiz and pretzels had him running over to Doose's Market. After putting away the few groceries, he checked her room only to find it empty. He checked the bathroom and the living room also, but they were both empty.

"Rory?" He called louder.

"Up here!" He looked up the staircase and quickly climbed up.

"Where are you?"

"In my mom's room." He had only been in Lorelai's room once or twice before so he felt a little funny about entering the older woman's bedroom. When he rounded the corner, he saw Rory sitting on the floor with creams and lotions and other types of products in piles around her.

"What are you doing?" He took a seat across from her and picked up a bottle of moisturizing lotion.

She sighed and dropped her hands into her lap, supporting her stomach. "I was looking for this cream I once bought for bags under your eyes, but I think we either used it up or it was thrown away."

"Why would you need cream for bags?" He asked as he picked up another bottle and gagged slightly when he saw the expiration date was for 6 years earlier.

"I'm just not sleeping a lot." He sighed and used his arm to sweep the bottles to the side. He reached out to her and pulled her towards him. She leaned against him, closing her eyes tiredly.

"What's keeping you up?" He asked soothingly into her hair.

"I'm just not comfortable and I can't get comfortable. I'm too big." He ran his hand over her stomach, feeling the soft kicks every so often.

"Well the good news is that you're almost done!"

"I've got almost a month left." She mumbled, tucking her head against his chest. "I just want him out."

"Come take a nap, I'll lie down next to you." She nodded against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He stood up and pulled her up with him. Wrapping his arm around her protectively, they slowly made their way downstairs and into her bedroom.

He pulled back the covers and helped her onto her side, placing a pillow between her legs. After she was settled, he came behind her, allowing her body to form to his. They remained in silence for a while before they heard a cell phone vibrating.

"Shit, sorry." Tristan whispered and pulled the phone from his pocket. He checked the caller-id and sighed. "It's Paris, I have to answer it."

"Okay. Come back when you're done." He kissed her check and scooted off her bed and into the living room so he wouldn't bother her.

"Hi Paris."

"Wow, Dugrey, you're answering. Gilmore must be slipping in some etiquette lessons or something."

"Would you rather me refer to you as Gellar?"

"I don't appreciate the undeserved sarcasm, Dugrey. I'm calling because I wanted to know what classes you have in the fall."

He sighed. "You know, not everyone has a relative in Yale's registrar office. We can't all find out our classes early."

"What about Rory?"

"Again, not everyone has a relative in the registrar's office."

"Fine, when you know give me a call. I'm starting to form study groups."

He rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'll call when—"

"Are you and Rory going to join the Yale Daily News?"

"You do realize that Rory is about 33 weeks pregnant, right?"

"Of course, I'm not stupid. I knew she was pregnant before you did."

"Okay, we're just not sure of everything right now. It's kind of a stressful time. We can talk about it later, okay?"

"Fine, I'm holding you to it though."

"Tristan!" Rory called for Tristan, as loud as she could.

"Look I gotta go, Rory needs me. I'll call when I find out my schedule."

"Good—" He hung up before she finished her sentence and walked quickly to Rory's room.

"What's up?" He asked. His face fell when he saw her panicked face. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" He crossed her room quickly and searched her alarmed face for clues.

"My…I think…it broke…wet…all of a sudden…I need to go to the hospital!" She spoke brokenly in a small panic.

"I'm not following you. What broke?" All she could do was point towards her stomach. He pulled back the covers and gasped when he saw a large wet spot in between her legs.

"Your water broke?!" He asked, incredulously. She nodded fervently. "Shit. Shit. Fuck. Umm…we need to go!" He helped her off the bed and handed her his cell phone. "Call the doctor, I'm going to get your bags and put them in the car." She nodded and started dialing as he ran off.

After grabbing her hospital bag, he ran to his car, and cursed silently when he realized his car was locked. He dropped the bags on the ground and sprinted back inside and grabbed his keys. He was about to run back inside when he saw Rory wincing and supporting herself against the wall as she shuffled forward and holding the bottom of her stomach. He noticed she was now wearing a different pair of shorts.

"Are you okay?" He asked anxiously. She smiled at him despite the situation and cupped his cheek. "Why are you smiling?" He ran his hand through his hair, eyes wide.

"I just never thought I'd see the day that you would be scrambling to get me to the hospital."

"That makes two of us. Now come on!" He ushered her outside and supported almost all of her weight the more they walked. He got her into the car and threw the forgotten bags into the car before getting in and starting the car in a frenzy.

"Seatbelt, Tristan." Rory scolded. He sighed and shook his head, but buckled himself in one handed anyway while he steered with the other hand.

They made it to the hospital very fast due to Tristan's extra speedy driving. He pulled into the emergency entrance. "Wait here." He said and jumped out of the car. Rory breathed out a deep breath and leaned her head back. Her felt her stomach plummet when she realized Lorelai was about ­­­­­­­­­­­­700 miles away.

"Oh god." She whispered to herself. This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. She whipped her head up when she heard a knock on her window. Behind Tristan was a nurse with a wheelchair. He opened the door and was about to speak when he saw her face. He rapidly went onto his knees in front of her.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"My mom's in North Carolina." She whispered as a few tears fell. He cursed silently and removed her seatbelt.

"I'll call her when you get inside, okay?" She nodded weakly. Soon she was admitted and changed into a hospital gown. She was lying down in a hospital bed waiting for her doctor to arrive.

"Can you call my mom?" She bit her lip. He nodded quickly and ran out of the room. He went through his contact list as fast as he could.

"Damn it, pick up!" He fidgeted as he heard the phone ring for the 3rd time.

"Hello?" Came her chipper voice.

"Lorelai!"

"Hey! How are you?"

"Fine, look, Rory's in—"

"Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm not actually here. Leave a message! Thanks, bye." And the voicemail beep sounded. He closed his eyes.

"Lorelai, it's Tristan. Please call me back immediately. Rory's water broke and I don't think—" He was interrupted by an alert beep. He took his phone from his face and thanked the gods when he saw Lorelai was calling him.

"Lorelai!" He breathed.

"Hey, sorry. I couldn't find my phone. I found it next to the bible in the nightstand drawer." She snorted. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really."

Her voice went grave. "What's wrong?"

"Rory's water broke."

"What?" She screeched.

"It happened about an hour ago. We're at the hospital now and we're waiting for the doctor to get here. She realized a little bit ago that you were in North Carolina and is getting scared."

"Okay, I'm leaving for the airport now, but I don't think I'll make it back in time." She said sadly.

"I know, I just don't know what to do. She said a few weeks ago she was just nervous, not scared although now it seems like it's the opposite. Although I don't think she expected you to be gone when it happened." He ran his hand through his hair for the umpteenth time.

"Tristan, tell her I love her and she will do great! Tell her to ask for an epidural now even if she's not feeling any pain. Make her pretend it hurts like hell. Umm, also hope for a speedy labor. But tell her I'll be there in a jiffy! Well….a couple million jiffy's, but whatever."

"I will."

"And Tristan?"

"Yea?" He breathed.

"Thank you. I know this was all thrust upon you and you're taking it in full stride."

"Anything for her, Lorelai."

"I know. Now go!"

"I will, get here fast!" He hung up the phone and walked into Rory's examining room to see the doctor at the foot of the bed, checking Rory's progress. Upon hearing Tristan enter, Rory turned her head to look at him.

"She said you will do great and she loves you. And she said to tell you that she's going to the airport now and that she'll be here in a couple million jiffy's." That made Rory smile and nod. He tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear.

"You're at 4 centimeters, Rory. I'd give it another few hours and you'll be ready to go!" The doctor reported, taking off his gloves.

"Your mom said to ask for an epidural even if you don't feel any pain yet."

She shook her head immediately. "No, I don't want it."

"But, Rory…it'll take the pain away."

"I don't—" She was interrupted by a contraction. She breathed through it, squeezing her eyes shut. "I don't need it."

"But you're in pain." He pointed out helplessly.

"Millions of women do it without drugs. I want to also."

"There's no reason to be the symbol of independent female empowerment right now. You're in labor! I think the feminists would let you off the hook for this."

"I don't want it!" She growled. He sighed and nodded softly.

"Did you bring a tie for your hair?" He asked changing the subject and pointing to her loose hair.

"Yea, it's in the side pocket of my bag." He took it out and tied a ponytail on top of her head. He pulled a chair over beside her and sat down, clasping her hand between hers. He bowed his head and kissed her hand tenderly.

"I know I'll make it through this, but will you?" She teased him.

"God I hope so. I can't miss Hercules' birth." He grinned at her. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm just going to go ahead and name him Tristan if you keep that up."

"Ugh please don't!" He groaned. They sat in near silence for a while longer until Tristan's head jerked up as he felt Rory's breath hitch and her hold on his hand tighten incredibly. He removed one hand and ran it down the side of her face.

"Ow." She whimpered against the pain, squeezing his hand harder. He felt his hand protest against her clasp but did nothing to stop her.

"You can do it." She nodded and breathed through the contraction.

"Period cramps never prepared me for this." She grumbled after it was over.

"What does it feel like?"

"Cramps or this?"

"Umm both I guess."

"Bad cramps feel like my uterus is trying to escape. This…this feels like…think about how it would feel to push a baby out of your body the way it is. No change in…equipment. Except the pain is worse."

He let out an audible shiver. "I think I'm thankful I've never felt that."

"Take my word for it; you are." He smiled and took a damp cloth one of the nurses left behind for Rory and moved it across her forehead and neck. "I'm bored."

He scoffed. "Seriously? You're in labor and you're bored?"

"I wish I had a Gameboy or something."

"No one's played Gameboy for like 5 years."

"Fine, then I wish I had my iPod so I could play Solitaire and listen to music."

"I could sing for you…"

"Oh, please!" Rory clapped her hands excitedly.

"What should I sing?"

"Mmmm surprise me!"

He cleared his through dramatically. "Have you ever heard the wolf cry, to the blue corn moon? Or ask the hidden bobcat why he sings?"

"Oh! Stop! I'm not even going to ask you how you know that song." Rory closed an eye and held her hands over her ears. Tristan grinned.

Several hours later

"Will you distract me?" Rory shifted.

"How?"

"I don't know, you're the one who's just sitting here."

"Umm…what did Haley Joel Osment find on the top of Mt. Everest?"

"Really? You're telling me jokes?" She couldn't help but laugh.

"It's all I could think of!"

"Umm, I don't know. What?"

"Icy dead people." She laughed despite herself.

"Where did you hear that?"

"A friend, that was my favorite one."

"Tell me another one?"

"I thought you were judging me for telling you jokes, and now you want hear more?" He teased.

"Yes, please."

"Fine…how do you know a blonde has been making chocolate chip cookies?"

"There are M&Ms shells on the floor. Really? That's one of the oldest ones in the book, Tristan."

"Sorry!" He put his hands up in defense.

"Another!"

"Why did the porcupine cross the road?"

"It wanted to deflate someone's tires." She guessed.

"Nope, it was stuck to the chicken." She snorted.

"Do you know any better ones?"

He laughed and thought for a moment. "Knock, knock!"

"This better not be the interrupting cow joke." He frowned and grumbled.

"I don't know anymore." He said deflated.

"It's okay." He leaned forward and kissed her softly.

"Mm, you taste yummy." He whispered against her, and deepened the kiss. He swept his tongue across her mouth and pulled back, nipping at her lips.

"It's called sweat."

"Mm yummy." He leaned forward again and moved his hand to the back of her head, pulling her face against his.

"Sorry to interrupt!" They broke apart as the doctor swiftly walked in and checked Rory's progress again.

"Is it almost time?" She asked the doctor impatiently. The doctor chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, you're just over 8 centimeters dilated. I'm going to move you into the delivery room, alright?"

Rory nodded nervously. "Will the baby just come out now?"

"No, you still have a few minutes to breathe. Don't worry."

"I was kind of just hoping it would come out now." The doctor chuckled and called in a few nurses. They started moving her bed as Tristan followed along, holding her hand the whole time.

Awhile later

"He's out!" The doctor called and handed the newborn off to a waiting nurse. The soft cries echoed through the room. Tristan smiled at Rory tiredly and kissed her forehead. Her hair was plastered with sweat to her face as she let her head lie back and closed her eyes, exhausted.

"He's beautiful. You know, I always say it to new parents, but in this case, I really and truly mean it. Good luck with the girls when he's older." Tristan laughed.

"He gets all his looks from his mommy." Tristan said sweetly and laced his hands through Rory's.

"Wow, you're being modest. That's a first." Rory joked quietly.

"Here we go!" A nurse chirped and handed the bundle to Rory. Tristan helped her sit up carefully and the newborn was rested in the crook of her arm as instructed by the nurse.

"Hey there, little man." Rory cooed. "I'm your mommy and this is your daddy." Tristan sat down next to Rory on the bed, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"He's so small." Tristan whispered.

"You know…he looks a little like you." Rory observed.

"You're saying I'm 6 pounds and wrinkly? Thanks."

She giggled. "No, look at his nose. Exactly like yours." Tristan tilted his head, trying to see what Rory was talking about.

"I honestly don't see it, but I'll take your word for it." He squeezed her shoulder a little and looked down at the newborn.

"How's your hand doing? Think you'll need x-rays?"

He laughed softly and stretched his hand for dramatic effect. "I think I'll be okay, but you can never complain about not being strong again. I swear any tighter and my bones would have compacted." He played.

"I'm sorry."

"Small price to pay." He said sweetly and kissed her hair again. The nurses re-entered the room.

"Alright, it's time for these two to rest. We're going to put him in the nursery, okay? Since he's a few weeks premature, we just need to make sure he'll be okay. You might want to take this opportunity to sleep. Sleep won't happen again for a few years." The nurse smiled kindly. Rory nodded, also smiling and kissed the baby's forehead before handing him off. As the nurse left the room, a frown appeared on her face.

"My arms feel so empty. I already miss him."

"I know." He rubbed her arm and scooted down. "Come on, get some rest Mary."

"I just gave birth and I'm still a Mary." She muttered.

Tristan only grinned and kissed her gently. "Night."

"Night."

A few hours later

Voices outside of Rory's room woke Tristan. He lightly stirred and looked up at the closed door. He heard a distinct voice somewhere in the hallway and started to get up.

"Mm, where are you going?" Rory murmured, mostly asleep.

"Just outside for a sec. I'll be back soon, go back to sleep."

"Mmkay." He kissed her forehead and moved off the bed. He stiffly walked to the hallway and searched for the known person.

"Is she still asleep?" He turned to see a nurse.

"Yea, I only got an injured hand and I fell asleep almost immediately. I can't imagine how tired Rory must be."

"It's not just from the giving birth. She probably hasn't been sleeping well for a few months now."

"That is true." Tristan acquiesced.

"So are you looking for the bathroom, or did you have a question?"

"Oh! No, I'm a light sleeper and I actually heard Rory's mom out here."

"Yes! I saw her. You know, she could be Rory's twin."

"I know, it's scary."

"Bible boy!" He groaned, but was happy to see Lorelai.

He turned. "Hey." He was surprised to see Lorelai's face so downtrodden.

"How is she?" She asked anxiously.

"She's still asleep. I came out here because I heard you." She nodded.

"God, I should have been here. My luggage is behind the nurses station, I haven't even gone home yet. How is she? Did the epidural help? Does she hate me? How's the baby? Is he okay? What does—"

"Woah! Hold on, one question at a time." He smiled, and gestured to her to relax.

"Do you want to sit?"

"Not particularly."

He smiled kindly. "Rory is great, she did really well. No she doesn't hate you. Your jiffy comment made her laugh."

"Oh, good!"

"As far as the baby, he seemed fine, but I haven't heard anything since I saw him after he was born. He was a little premature, so they just wanted to make sure everything was fine. They didn't seem concerned. But he's beautiful, Lorelai. Rory says he looks like me, but I don't see it. I personally think he looks like Rory the way Rory looks like you."

"Wow, nice analogy there."

"Thank you. And, she played the independent powerful woman card."

"She didn't use an epidural." Lorelai muttered, knowingly.

"Nope. She even managed to almost bite my head off in the middle of a contraction for suggesting that the pain be taken away."

"That's my girl!" She said proudly.

"Hey, do you wanna see him?"

"Um duh." Lorelai smiled, widely.

"Okay, let's find out where the nursery is." The two walked down the hallway in search for a staff member.

"Lorelai! You made it." They turned their heads to see the doctor.

"Hi! Yea I was in North Carolina, I took the first plane back."

"Well you can rest at ease now. Rory did wonderful, and with the help of Tristan, she even somewhat managed to relax. However relaxed you can be at least." The doctor chuckled and Lorelai smiled knowingly. "Tristan actually did very well also. He was a good choice to procreate with."

Tristan groaned. "The baby is born and I still get these jokes?" He muttered. Lorelai laughed and patted his arm.

"We were wondering if we could see the baby?" Lorelai spoke up.

"Ah of course! We finished all of the tests and the baby is healthy and strong. He is little on the smaller side at just 5 ½ pounds, but I'm not really concerned about that. It's a normal characteristic for an early born." The two nodded. "Alright, come along, and I'll bring you to the nursery." After a short walk, they entered the nursery and followed the doctor over to the bassinet. "Here we are." Lorelai came up to the side and looked down. When she looked at the face, she gasped.

"I told you he looks like Rory."

"No, he doesn't look exactly like Rory, Tristan."

"You think he looks like me?"

"Not entirely. Wow." Lorelai breathed and ran a hand down the baby's soft cheek.

"Are you thinking 55-45, Lorelai?" The doctor asked, knowingly.

"55 for Tristan, right?" The doctor nodded. "This is unbelievable." Lorelai kept staring.

"I'll be back shortly." The doctor excused himself.

"What? He has everything he's supposed to have and nothing extra. What's so fascinating?"

She finally tore her eyes away from the baby and moved them to Tristan. "Good luck with the girls." She grinned.

Tristan scoffed. "What's unbelievable?"

"You don't see it?"

"Apparently not."

"Okay. So let's say we have a scale of 1-10. You're 1 and Rory's 10. Good so far?"

"She's unbelievable gorgeous and I'm unbelievable ugly?"

"No, no. The numbers just represent where you are on the line. So you're 1, Rory's 10. This baby is a 4.85. Get it?"

"He's almost an exact replica of the two of us?" Tristan furrowed his eyebrows.

"Phew, he got it." Lorelai wiped her forehead teasingly.

"55 percent is me, 45 percent is Rory. Am I following your insane logic at all?"

"Following it? You're tied to it."

Tristan laughed and shook his head. Although he'd gotten used to Lorelai's lingo and way of talking, it still amused him greatly. "But I still don't see me."

"Give it time." Lorelai said, comfortingly. "But he's very handsome. The downside of him only half looking like you is that you can't take all of the credit for his looks."

"I think I'll survive."

"So he looks like a JC. Any ideas for names? Jason, Jake, Jack, John, Joseph, Jordan, Jacquin, Jasper, Justin, Julian…I'm running out of names here."

"We'll see."

"For a middle name…Carl, Connor, Colin, Cory, Charlie. And I'm guessing he'll be taking your last name."

"Lorelai, no offense, but we haven't really talked about it too much. I mean, we have a few names we like, but we wanted to see him before we settled on something for sure. And I think Rory wanted both of our last names."

"Gilmore-Dugrey. It's not bad. Some hyphenations are just horrendous, but I'll give my approval if that's what you decide to do."

"We appreciate it." Tristan said, satisfying Lorelai. They pulled up stools and sat by the bassinet for awhile longer, talking in hushed tones.

After awhile, Tristan looked at his watch. "I wonder if Rory is up yet."

"I hope so, I really want to see her."

"Let's go."

The lights in Rory's room were still off when Tristan pushed the door open, but a small stirring from the bed made him enter completely.

"Tristan?" Rory called, hoarsely.

"Yea baby, I'm here. Your mom is here too."

There was a quick pause. "Mom?"

"I'm here, honey." Lorelai quickly going to Rory's bed and taking a seat next to her on the bed. Tristan turned on a small lamp to give the room some soft light.

"You're here."

"I've been here for awhile, I just didn't want to wake you. I'm so sorry I wasn't here. I can't believe I missed this."

"It's okay. You're here now."

"I heard you did amazing."

"I just imagined you being here with me. Have you seen the baby?"

"I have. He's stunning Ror. A real keeper…even if it's a boy." Rory laughed softly.

"Good because I wasn't getting rid of him."

"Your mom said he looks like an even mixture of the both of us."

"What? No, he looks like Tristan."

"My god, you two are both in denial. Okay, whatever you two want to believe."

"How is he?" Rory asked, meekly.

"Perfect. Nothing wrong with him."

Rory visibly relaxed. "Do you think they'll bring him back here soon?"

"I'll go ask." Tristan said and kissed her forehead before leaving. Lorelai immediately turned to Rory once Tristan left.

"How are you doing?" Lorelai asked, taking one of Rory's hands in between both of hers.

"I'm fine now, but when it happened…I kind of panicked. I couldn't even tell Tristan my water broke, I could only point. Luckily it didn't take him long to figure it out."

"You can tell how much he loves you, Rory. I know this was all thrust upon both of you and you both had a strange start, but you know I'm a firm believer in fate."

"I could see myself married to him." Rory murmured quietly.

"I don't think there's something he'd want more than that, babe."

"It scares me that I feel that way, but at the same time…it just feels right."

"Don't follow the same path your father and I did, okay? If that's what you want, then fine. You know I'll always love you. Just don't turn your back on him, okay? Ignore how much I liked him in the beginning." Rory grinned in remembrance of Lorelai's borderline hate for him. "He's good for you, and if it's something that you two decide you want, then I would willingly accept him as a son in law."

"Thank you, mom. That means a lot to me." Lorelai nodded and tucked Rory's hair behind her ear. Lorelai was quiet for a moment.

"Wow. That was a scary moment, thinking about having a son-in-law." Another pause. "Oh my god!" She yelled.

"What?" Rory asked, worried.

"I'm a grandmother! I'm to pretty to be a grandmother!" Lorelai cried, horrified. Rory giggled and patted her mom on the arm.

"You've had like 8 months to come to terms with this, mom."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Look who I stole." The girls turned their heads to the door and saw Tristan pushing a portable bassinet.

"Tristan!" Rory admonished. "You can't just take him!"

"Relax, they told me I could." Tristan said smiling.

"Cruel." Rory muttered under her breath. She watched as Tristan lifted the baby up carefully and settled him into Rory's arms.

"They told me you should breastfeed him now." He said quietly. Rory looked up in fear.

"What if I do it wrong?"

"Honey, if you mess up he'll only hate you forever. Don't worry about it." Lorelai teased.

"Mom!"

"The baby will know what to do, you just need to position him." Rory nodded slowly as she shifted and moved her hospital gown aside. The baby moved his head and latched onto her exposed nipple. Rory let out a little yelp at the strange tugging sensation. She caught Tristan's look of awe as he watched her nursing.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Lorelai asked.

"No." Rory admitted. Lorelai looked at Tristan and then back to Rory,

"You'll be okay if I grab something from my suitcase, right?" Rory nodded, to wrapped up in the baby to give Lorelai much more of an answer. When Lorelai left, Tristan came beside her. She looked up at his almost silent mumblings.

"Come here." She patted next to her. He carefully sat down, enthralled with the action taking place just a few inches away from him. He turned his head to look at Rory's face and froze when he saw she was staring at him.

"What?" He asked quietly.

"Kiss me." She breathed. His lips turned up at the edges as he leaned forward and kissed her gently. He pulled back to look at her face before he brought his lips back to hers, sucking her bottom hip between his. She broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against his.

"He needs a name." Tristan whispered.

"How about Tristan Hercules Dugrey?" Rory teased.

"Oh shut up."

A/N: Has anyone ever called someone and gotten a voicemail like the one Tristan got calling Lorelai? I have, it was kind of embarrassing. Haha. Sooo one more chapter then? YAY! It might be a little longer between this chapter and the next one, since it's not finished yet, but I'll try my best to get it finished! This is the fastest I've ever updated a story and finished one. Go me! Haha, okay, hope you enjoyed! The next chapter will be an epilogue of sorts. Please review, thanks! Kiki