Rory Forrester looked into the mirror and smoothed the sundress over her 20-week pregnant belly. She smiled as she affectionately rubbed the bump.
"Rory, hurry up! My mom is expecting us for dinner in ten minutes," Dean called to her.
"Dean they live five minutes away. On foot even. We're fine!" she called back. She rolled her eyes, and smiled again. "I'm almost ready, I just have to find my shoes."
"Sorry, I know. My mom is just really excited, she's already called me half a dozen times today, trying to get me to tell her what we're having."
"You didn't tell her, did you?" Rory asked suddenly filled with horror, if Dean's mom found out before her mom did, there would be hell to pay.
"Of course not. I told her she'd find out tonight, at dinner, at the exact same time as Luke and Lorelai found out."
"Thank you!" she said, feeling very relieved. Dean came into their bedroom and sat down on the queen-sized bed. "You know, watching me won't make me get ready any faster."
"I know, but I like to watch you get ready. You're cute Mrs. Forrester," he said with a flirtatious smile.
"Thank you Mr. Forrester," she replied, turning to kiss him sweetly on the cheek. "Do you know where my white sandals are?"
"I think they're in the hall closet," he told her.
"You're right!"
"Does this mean you're ready to go?"
"Yes, I'm ready to go." She exited the bedroom and headed down the hall to the foyer and the hall closet.
She picked up her purse from the side table, and opened the closet to find her shoes. The closet was filled with shoes, and coats, and the vacuum cleaner. She dug around for a minute and finally pulled out one of the shoes she was looking for. "Here, hold this!" she said thrusting the shoe at her husband. "I'm going back in for the other one. If I don't come out in five minutes, send in a search party."
Dean took the shoe and laughed. "You know, this wouldn't be a problem if you didn't have so many shoes."
"Ha!" she snorted from the closet. "You think this is a lot of shoes? Compared to my mom-"
Dean cut her off, "I know your mom has twice this many shoes."
"Exactly!" Rory exclaimed. "And my grandmother has at least twice as many shoes as my mother. You're lucky you got this Gilmore, Buddy."
"Yes, yes I am," he said with a smile.
"Ah-ha!" Rory yelled triumphantly. "I've got you now!" She backed out of the closet holding up the other white sandal. She dropped it on the floor and slid her foot into it, then held out her hand to Dean for the other one. He handed it to her and she dropped it on the floor, and slid into it. "I'm really ready now."
Dean smiled at her, and she walked out the door with him a step behind her, pausing only to lock the door. He grasped her hand, and they walked down the street to his parents' house together.
"So?" Mae Forrester asked the moment they walked in the door.
"So, what?" Dean teased his mother.
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"We're not telling you until everyone gets here," Dean reminded her.
"We're here! I hope we didn't miss the big announcement," Lorelai said as she and Luke came in the door behind Rory and Dean.
"Geez Lorelai, you didn't even bother to knock!" Luke scolded her.
"This is my daughter's mother-in-law's house. It's family, there's no need to knock!" Lorelai explained.
"Exactly right!" John Forrester concurred, coming out of his study.
"We're all here, now will you tell us?" Mae asked again.
"Alright, alright," Dean started, "it's a…"
"Girl!" Rory shouted, not being able to stand the suspense of drawing it out.
"I knew it!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Another Lorelai?"
"Congratulations," Mae said excited.
"We haven't picked a name yet," Rory said answering her mother's question. The pair were congratulated by all, and smothered in hugs and kisses.
"So, is dinner soon?" Dean asked.
"Oh yeah, it's ready now, the picnic table is set in the back yard," his mother told them.
"Well let's go eat and we'll discuss the details over dinner," John said, ushering the crowd of people from his entryway into the back yard.
The table was set with typical summer fare, barbequed chicken, corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, fresh fruit and lemonade. The six of them, and Dean's sister Clara, all took their places around the table and began to dig in.
"So Rory, how much longer are you going to keep working?" John asked.
"Well, as a staff writer, I can pretty much keep working until I pop, then work from home while I'm on maternity leave," she explained. Rory had been at the Stars Hollow Gazette since she started college. She'd had a full ride to Connecticut State, and chose to go there and stay close to Dean instead of going to Harvard or Yale. She was hired on full time just a few months earlier when she'd graduated from college.
"Rory, the whole point of maternity leave is that you don't have to work," her mother explained in a joking manner.
"I know, but I like my job, and we need the money."
"Honey, if you don't want to work once the baby is born I can pick up some extra shifts at Doose's," Dean told her.
"No!" she exclaimed louder than she intended to. "With the hours you work for Tom I already hardly ever see you, if you pick up more shifts at Doose's, then I'll never see you." He just nodded at her.
"Well I'll babysit my niece any time you want," Clara informed them happily. "For free even!"
"I can't believe my baby is having a baby!" Lorelai said.
"I'm 22 Mom, not a baby."
"I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner," Mae said. "I mean they've been married for two years already!"
"Rory wanted to finish college first, Mom," Dean explained.
Rory sighed lightly and tried to refrain from rolling her eyes, leave it to Dean to put their delay in having children all on her shoulders.
"Either way, I'm glad they're having one now! I can't wait to meet my granddaughter," John interjected hoping to stop any potential arguments.
"To Dean and Rory," Luke said, holding up his lemonade glass. "Congratulations on… Baby Girl Forrester," he concluded awkwardly.
"Thank you Luke," Rory told him with a smile.
Three hours later Rory and Dean exited the elder Forrester's house and headed back towards their apartment. The key stuck in the lock as Dean tried to open the door.
"I really hate this apartment," he said gruffly.
"Well, we should consider moving soon, this place isn't really big enough for us now, and when the baby gets here it'll be even more crowded."
Dean shoved the door roughly and walked into the apartment, sighing deeply as he headed for the living room sofa. He plopped down and rested his elbows on his knees, dropping his head into his hands.
"Are you okay Babe?" Rory asked as she slipped off her shoes and followed him into the living room.
"Yeah," he said with a sigh, "I just feel frustrated. We need a bigger apartment, and you shouldn't have to work after the baby is born. I feel like I can't even take care of my family!"
"Don't say that," Rory said, sitting down beside him. "I like my job, I like to work. Maternity leave would make me stir crazy. And so what if we can't afford a bigger apartment right now. I know this one sucks, but we can make it work for a while longer."
"I'm sorry I can't give you everything," Dean said solemnly. "If you were with one of those rich guys your grandparents approved of you wouldn't have to worry about any of this."
"I don't want those guys, I only want you. Besides, there's no use wondering about What Might Have Been. We're here now, and we're happy, we both have jobs, and we have a healthy baby girl on the way."
"I love you Rory."
"I love you too," she told him. "Now, I'm tired and craving ice cream, why don't you, Ben and Jerry, and I all climb into bed and watch Willy Wonka?"
"Okay," he said standing up from the couch.
"I'm going to grab the ice cream and I'll be right in." He nodded in acknowledgement and headed into the bedroom.
Rory went into their tiny kitchen and pulled out the Chunky Monkey and a couple of spoons, turned out the lights, and headed to bed.
AN: I don't own the song or the show. I also don't own Ben and Jerry's.
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