Chapter 24 Presenting Baby Danes

"He has got to be the prettiest baby ever!" Rory said as she stared at her brother. She didn't trust herself to hold the baby yet because of her broken hand and the medication-induced stupor she was currently in.

"My son's not pretty," Luke said quickly. "My son is handsome. I'll give you cute even. But he's a boy and boy's aren't pretty!"

"Okay, then. Your son might be handsome, but my son is pretty!" Lorelai said, grinning at her husband. "Yes, you are," she said, turning her attention back to the baby. "You are, you are, you are!"

"Well, the suspense is killing me! What's the kid's name?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, Mom, spill it. What's the baby's name?"

"For right now, Baby Boy Danes," Lorelai said. "We can't decide on good enough name."

"He just doesn't look like a William to me," Luke said. "But, I'll tell you, he definitely doesn't look like a Colby!"

"Well, then, it's a good thing I brought you this," Jess said. "I found it in the gift shop and thought it might help."

"Ooh! Open up to the boys names," Lorelai said.

"First off, what kind of name do you want?" Rory asked, still watching her brother sleeping in her mom's arms.

"Something strong," Luke said.

"Something traditional, not trendy," Lorelai said. "Nothing like Granger or Bailey or anything like that."

"Okay," Jess said. "What about Bradley?"

"No," Luke said.

"Samuel?"

"No," Luke and Lorelai said in unison.

"At least you can agree on the names you don't like," Rory pointed out. "That's a big step!"

"Caleb?"

"No," Luke said. "I knew a Caleb once and he was a jerk."

"Hey, what about Gilmore?" Jess asked. "Gilmore Danes?"

"Gil would be a great nickname!" Rory said.

"Actually, we had thought about Gilmore as a middle name," Lorelai said.

"What about Liam?" Rory asked. "Keeping with the 'L' tradition."

"I don't think so. It sounds too much like lame," Jess said. "What about Ryan?"

"I like Ryan," Lorelai said. "Add it to the list."

"Ryan Gilmore Danes. It has a nice ring to it," Rory said.

"Maybe," Luke said, studying his son intently. "But I don't think he looks like a Ryan, either."

"Well, does he look like a Matthew?" Jess asked.

"I've always like the name Matthew," Lorelai said. "What do you think?" she asked Luke.

"Actually, so have I. And he looks like a Matt."

"Matthew Gilmore Danes. I like it," Rory said.

"Matthew. Is that your name?" Lorelai asked her son. "You're Mommy's little Matty. I'm totally sold. How about it, Daddy?"

"My son's name is Matthew. Here, let me hold him," Luke said, sitting down beside Lorelai.

"Of course," Lorelai said, carefully handing Matthew to Luke.

"I'll go get the paperwork from the nurse," Rory volunteered and slipped out of the room, grabbing Jess on her way.

"Do you need help?" Jess asked.

"No. I just thought they should have some quiet time alone with Matthew. You know, some family time for just them. They're just getting to know each other."

"I don't know how long that will last," Jess said, nodding in the direction of the elevator. Rory looked up and saw her grandparents getting off and walking toward them.

"I'll stall them a bit," Rory said. "Go get the paperwork for the birth certificate," she said, quickly pecking him on the cheek as he slipped around the corner.

"Grandma, Grandpa! You're here!"

"Rory! My God, what happened to your hand?" Emily asked.

"Oh, this? No big deal. It was just a little accident."

"Rory, did Jess do this to you?" Richard asked in a hushed, concerned tone.

"What? No. No! Grandpa, it really was an accident. I was sitting with Mom while she had a contraction and she took my hand and squeezed. Hard. The way she gripped my hand, well, she broke it."

"Your mother broke your hand? You can't be serious."

"So, while Mom was in labor, I was getting x-rays. It's pretty funny, actually, or that could be the vicodin talking. I can't wait to tell Matthew the story."

"Matthew?" Richard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Matthew Gilmore Danes. My brother; your grandson."

"Grandson? She had a boy?" Emily asked.

"Yes, she did. Grandma, I'm so sorry. I thought Sookie told you. Mom and Luke had a baby boy."

"All that Sookie said was that the baby was born and healthy. I didn't realize until we were off the phone that she didn't tell us the baby's sex. Actually, come to think of it, I do think Sookie said 'he' and I didn't think anything of it. No matter now. Ooh. A boy, Richard. A grandson. Lorelai had a baby boy!"

"Matthew! Matthew Gilmore Danes. A good, strong name. And that Lorelai choose Gilmore for the middle name, I am honored."

"He looks like a Gilmore," Rory said with a smile. "He's strong, sturdy stock; as Great-Grandma would have said."

"I'll have to see that for myself," Richard said with a wink. "But Gilmore genes are strong and sturdy, like Trix would have said."

"Yes, where is she?" Emily asked. "Where are they?" she rephrased. "Can we see them?"

"Sure. They're just down the hall. Here, follow me."

Jess was waiting outside the room, leaning against the wall. When he saw her, he gave her the look, which clearly said that Jess needed to get out of the hospital. Rory assumed that her feelings echoed Jess', so she made an executive decision.

"Just let me get Grandma and Grandpa settled and say goodbye to Mom, Luke, and Matthew," Rory promised. "Then we'll get out of here."

"Okay," Jess said, smiling. "I'll wait right here."

"Look who's here," Rory said, poking her head into the room ahead of her grandparents.

"Hi, Mom. Hey, Dad," Lorelai said, glancing away from the baby for a second to smile at her parents before returning her gaze to her child. "Come on in and meet your grandson."

"Hey, Mom. Jess and I are going to get out of here," Rory said quickly, not wanting to argue with her mother. "We're headed home. I'm exhausted. We're exhausted. We just need sleep."

"Okay, go get some sleep and rest that hand. I am so sorry about that," Lorelai said, apologizing for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Really. I guess I just don't know my own strength."

"It's okay, Mom," Rory said, forgiving Lorelai yet again. "We'll come by tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to hold my brother tomorrow."

"And if not, maybe Jess will take a chance and hold his cousin," Luke said. Jess had kept himself at arms length from the baby since his birth. "I'm going to stay here tonight," Luke continued, "so don't wait up and make sure you lock all the doors."

"Yeah, because Stars Hollow is such a hot-bed for breaking and entering! Ooh, and sweets, can you feed Paul Anka?"

"You got it," Rory said. "Goodnight. And goodnight, widdle Matty," Rory said, gently touching his cute little baby nose with her pinky finger. "I could just eat you up!"

"Goodbye Rory, the bestest big sister in the whole wide world! I'll see you later!" Lorelai answered in a high pitched baby-talk voice.

"Yeah, like that's not going to get old really fast!" Luke said.

"You better get used to it, Daddy!" Lorelai replied in the same voice.

Jess joined Rory as she walked down the hall to the elevator and held her good hand in his, pulling her head close and kissing her cheek with a loud pucker and smacking sound.

"What was that for?" Rory asked, laughing, as they got onto the elevator.

"No reason in particular. I don't need one, do I?" Jess asked.

"Never," Rory said. "You can hug and kiss me as much as you want whenever you want!"

"You better watch it," Jess said, kissing her again. "I might just take you up on that!"

"Looking forward to it," Rory said with a sly, flirtatious smile that suddenly morphed into a huge, wide yawn. "I am so sorry! It's been a long day."

"No problem," Jess said. "And it has been a long day. I'm exhausted, too, babe. I'm running on fumes right now and my tank's rapidly approaching empty."

"So, do you want to go straight home or do you want to stop and eat?"

"The fumes and empty apply to my energy level as a whole. I'm tired and hungry equally. And since you haven't eaten since breakfast, so I know you need to eat."

"What do you want to eat? We can cook something at home or we can go out."

"Well, I am guessing that there is little normal food at your mom and Luke's," Jess said. "It the cupboards are anything like the fridge, we'll starve. The whole pregnancy thing did something crazy to Lorelai's eating habits."

"Crazier than normal? You're kidding, right?"

"Did you look in the fridge? It's a very scary place. Grape jelly, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, oranges, olives, ham salad, half a bagel, a chicken wing and a pint of leftover Chinese from who knows when!"

"Have you ever looked in that fridge before? That all sounds pretty normal to me!"

"No wonder you're so skinny," Jess said. "You've be genetically altered to consume massive quantities of food and let the nutrients slowly release so not to let you stare to death. And, it explains why your mother's best friend is a chef and her husband owns a diner. It's the survival of the fittest."

"We could go to Luke's," Rory said. "Caesar will probably make us the contents of the entire menu. Or we can order Chinese or pizza or something. Or we could stop at the market and pick something up."

"Large pizza," Jess said. "Fully loaded. Call now, since it's Saturday night it might take a lot longer than usual. Then it'll be there right after we get home."

"Are you just craving pizza or are you hiding from the paparazzi?" Rory asked.

"Is it a crime that I want some alone time with my girl?"

"No," Rory replied. "But is it a crime that I want to hide a bit?"

"Not at all," Jess said. "Do you think the town knows all about Luke, Lorelai, and Matthew yet?"

"Probably not," Rory said. "I think that Sookie and Jackson are the only people in Stars Hollow that know the baby was born, so I'm pretty sure that we could be fairly incognito. Mom asked Sookie to spill the beans to Miss Patty tomorrow afternoon to buy everyone a little time."

"I still don't want to share you with anyone," Jess confessed. "I just want it to be you, me, and a pizza in bed tonight."

"That sounds perfect."

They were both quiet on the drive back to Stars Hollow from Hartford. They were about five miles outside of town when Rory decided to ask Jess a question that had been nagging her all day.

"Why didn't you hold Matthew?" Rory blurted out at supersonic Gilmore speed.

"What? Sorry. I'm a little slow on the uptake, so I missed that one."

"You didn't hold Matthew."

"No I did not."

"Any special reason?"

"None in particular," Jess said, letting his voice trail off as he gazed out the window into nothing.

"Why didn't you hold him?"

"I guess I didn't have the urge," Jess said. "Today was his first day of life. He needs to bond with his parents."

"But he could bond with his cousin, too. I wanted to bond with him myself, but the hand thing hindered my ability to bond. You, on the other hand, were totally free to bond and yet you didn't get within fifty feet of him. It was like he had a restraining order against you or something."

"I didn't want to break him," Jess said.

"What are you talking about?"

"He's a baby. He's so small and I think that I might break him if I touch him. I don't want to break him."

"You're so cute when you're nervous!"

"And you're so not funny!"

"I don't get why you're so nervous. He's just a baby! It's sweet that your nervous, but it sort of makes me nervous."

"Why? The only reason you didn't hold Matthew is because of the hand."

"Well, because of the hand and the dopiness. But you're afraid of the baby, so it makes me wonder if you'll be afraid of our baby."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished that she could go back in time or somehow manage to pull the words back into her mouth. She wanted to swallow them, cut out her tongue, something, anything, any way she could possibly take them back.

"Our baby?" Jess asked, his voice immediately rising up an octave and cracking nervously.

"What?" Rory asked, pretending to play dumb in hopes that Jess would think he hallucinated or something.

"What baby? We have a baby? When did we get a baby?"

"No, we don't have a baby. I promise that we don't have a baby. Not yet anyway."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about our imaginary baby that we might have at some point in time many years from now. I'm talking about future baby here."

"You want a baby?" Jess asked quietly.

"What?"

"Do you want to have a baby, Rory?"

"No. Maybe. I think so. Yes. Well, not right now, anyway. I don't know."

"I've never heard you more incoherent. This has really gotten to you, hasn't it?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me, Jess. I am so sorry!"

They were quiet on the rest of the drive back to Stars Hollow. Jess parked and ran into the pizza place to pick up the pizza, leaving Rory alone to dissect everything she had blubbered on about in the previous few minutes.

"God, what the hell is wrong with me?" she thought to herself. "I want to have a baby? Where did that come from?"

"You want to have a baby?" Jess asked. He set the pizza box down on Rory's lap and slamming the car door shut. "When did you decide you wanted a baby? Where the hell did that idea come from?"

"I don't know! Jess, I have no idea, I swear. I was talking and it just sort of came out."

"Rory, ideas do not come out of your mouth, they start in your head first. Where did that thought come from?"

"I don't know! Maybe it's the drugs. Maybe it's the hormones."

"Hormones? What hormones?"

"My mom's got hormones. She got her potent heat-seeking baby-induced high-test hormones all over me. I think they're contagious."

"Hormones are contagious?"

"Ours, Mom's and mine, are," Rory said. "Our periods have been in sync for years!"

"Oh, God, Rory. Eew!"

"Sorry. Too much information?"

"Anything involving bodily functions of your mother is always way too much information!"

"Sorry."

"I love you," Jess said after a silence long enough for them to drive to the house.

"I love you, too," Rory said, balancing the pizza box on her good and bad hands as she got out of the car. "Come on. Let's go inside and eat. We can talk about this later."

"And we will talk about it," Jess said. "On a full stomach and after a good night's sleep we can talk all about anything."

"Are we okay?" Rory asked with tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.

"Rory, come here," Jess said. He tossed the pizza box on the hood of the car and wrapped Rory up in his arms and pulled her close to him, so close that he could feel the beat of her heart in time with his own. "Don't cry, love. We're more than okay. We're perfect."