June 2008

"Rory, get back in here! The Oompa Loompas are coming, you're gonna miss it!" Lorelai called excitedly towards the kitchen from her spot on the couch.

"Oooh! But wait, the popcorn's not done. You said the babies were going to kick through your stomach if I didn't get you your popcorn!" Rory shouted back, "Just pause it!"

Lorelai feebly attempted to reach for the remote, just in front of her on the coffee table, over her very pregnant stomach, "Can't…reach…so far," she called dramatically.

Rory rushed back with the popcorn in hand, "Did I miss it?" she asked worriedly and then glanced up at the TV to check, "Hey! There's still like two more scenes until the Oompa Loompas!" she said annoyed, glaring accusatorially at her mom.

Lorelai grinned, "Well, you were taking too long. The babies didn't want to wait anymore," she said taking the bowl of popcorn from Rory.

Rory rolled her eyes, "And you wonder why we say you needed a babysitter," she quipped plopping down onto the couch next to her mom. Lorelai was due in two weeks and neither Luke nor Rory would allow Lorelai to be left alone. Since her mom hadn't been able to do much except sit around and watch movies for the past few weeks, Rory had been coming down on the weekends to keep her company. Today she was the "babysitter" while Luke was in Hartford looking at a new oven for the diner after one of his had broken.

As the movie neared Lorelai's favorite part, she began to quote along with the characters, "Snozzwangers? And rotten vernicious knids? What kind of rubbish is that?" she said mimicking a British accent.

"I'm sorry, but all questions about how I got free labor in my factory will be ignored," Rory replied going slightly off script as her and her mom often did when quoting along with movies they knew by heart, "And so in the greatest of secrecy, I kidnapped the entire population of Oompa Loompas and brought slavery to my factory," she joked.

"Hey Daddy, why am I the biggest brat ever, why?" Lorelai mocked in an exaggerated whiny voice.

"Oh, Veruca, because I'm rich of course," Rory replied in a serious tone.

"No, because I'm a kid in a candy world!" Lorelai continued in the same whiny tone.

"Can it! I'm the most spoiled brat here!" Rory shot back matching her mom's tone. She broke character, giggling as the Oompa Loompa song started, "Get ready to be turned on, Mom," she joked referring to Lorelai's reoccurring dreams of marrying an Oompa Loompa.

"No, I don't like your analysis of that dream," Lorelai replied, "Make a new one," she commanded petulantly.

Rory laughed and answered placatingly, "It's ok, we all have our guilty pleasures. I'm sure Luke will understand," Rory finished with a grin.

Lorelai was about to fire back a response but instead let out a sudden yelp, "Crap!"

"What?" Rory asked confused.

Lorelai looked up in shock, "My water just broke."

"What!?" Rory asked again, this time much louder and more like an exclamation.

"Babies coming, wet spot on the couch…" Lorelai began stating the obvious in response to Rory's rhetorical question.

Rory interrupted her mom, "Ok, I got it. But it wasn't supposed to be for another 2 weeks!" she said still in shock.

"Well, tell that to your brother and sister," Lorelai shot back.

Rory finally calmed down enough to take action, "It's ok," she said mostly to herself, "Where's your hospital bag?" she asked her mom.

Lorelai looked away, "It wasn't supposed to be for another 2 weeks," she mumbled Rory's words back at her.

"Mom, you didn't pack your bag yet!? You're supposed to do that at least a month before the due date!" she exclaimed. "You know what, it's fine," she said calmly to herself, "I'll just do it now," she added as she ran upstairs.

Lorelai could hear the sound of Rory's hurried footsteps as she rummaged around her bedroom. Suddenly Lorelai remembered something important, "Hey, make sure you pack me something cute. I'm not leaving the hospital looking like that woman from… oh what's it called… aah doesn't matter. Could you just make sure to grab my blue top, the one with the stripey things?" Lorelai rambled, calling upstairs to Rory.

Just as Lorelai finished talking, Rory came down the stairs, "The person who packs the bag gets to pick the outfits," she spat out as she rushed by with the packed bag.

Lorelai began to complain, "That's not the rule. The owner of the bag is in charge of what's within the bag and the packer…" but was cut off by a sharp pain, "Jesus mother of…" she cried out clutching her stomach as a contraction hit.

"Are you ok?" Rory dropped the bag and rushed to her mother's side, her voice filled with concern

Lorelai didn't say anything for a few seconds, but clutched Rory's hand so tightly she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out in pain herself. After the contraction passed, Lorelai responded relatively calmly, "Yeah, just a contraction, but I swear they didn't feel like that until like five hours in with you."

This only raised Rory's anxiety, "Well, come on, let's move them," she directed as she leaned over to help her mom stand up and lead her to the car.

As Rory started the car, she tossed her phone to Lorelai, "Call Luke," she instructed.

Lorelai took it and began to dial, "I swear if he has it on silent today of all days…" she waited a few rings before she was sent to voicemail, "Damnit! He has it on silent!" she said to Rory, annoyed but not surprised.

Once the beep came telling her to leave a message, Lorelai began speaking into the phone, "Sooo your children decided they're bored of living in the dark and having to kick for food. Or they really like the Oompa Loompas, or it was Rory's fault. Anyways, that's a debate for another time," Lorelai began rambling very unclearly as Rory shot her a glare. She continued frustrated, "This is why you don't leave your cellphone on silent. You have a phone, use it! I don't want one of those birth stories that people pull out when they run out of topics of conversation and it's oh so funny now, but you know it was actually hell," she ranted getting more worked up as she went. She took a deep breath, "Oh yeah, Rory's driving me to the hospital now and everything's fine so don't freak out but just pick up your damn phone and get your ass there now!" she finished emphatically and then sighed, "Love you, bye" she threw in just before slamming the phone shut and leaning her head back with a groan.

"Why does he hate cellphones so much!?" Lorelai screamed up at the ceiling.

"I'm sure he'd be happy to write you a list," Rory replied sweetly with a smirk.

"Gaaaahhh!" Lorelai screamed at the ceiling again, "I'm leaving another message," she said as she hit redial and continued to do so the rest of the way to the hospital.

Just as they reached the hospital, another contraction arrived, and Rory grimaced as she thought her fingers might be broken. It had been a short drive to the hospital, but Lorelai had had another contraction on the way. They had definitely not been this close together or painful until much later with Rory.

"Should I go in and ask for a wheelchair?" Rory asked concerned, as Lorelai finally relaxed.

Lorelai shook her head, "No, it's short walk. I'll be fine," she replied assuredly as Rory grabbed the hospital bag.

Once in the hospital, Rory settled her mom in a chair and walked up to the front desk, "Hi," she said getting the receptionist's attention, "My mom's in labor," she motioned over to where Lorelai was sitting, "I think it's going fast so if you could get someone quickly, that'd be great," she explained in her typical polite way.

The receptionist looked up, her mom was in labor? She looked old enough to have a baby herself. Maybe a geriatric pregnancy, she thought unhappily, not wanting to deal with that. But when she looked where the girl was pointing, the woman didn't appear to be that old. "Here fill these out," she instructed, handing a stack of forms to Rory, "Someone will be out shortly," she added curtly.

Rory sat back down next to her mom and began filling out the forms for her which Lorelai was grateful for because the pain was starting to become more constant, and she couldn't focus on much else.

After a few minutes, Rory looked up from the forms, "Ok, sorry but the rest of this stuff I really don't want to know," she said as she handed over the forms with a few questions left over to Lorelai.

"What do you mean? We tell each other everything," Lorelai attempted to joke, gritting her teeth in pain.

Luckily, a nurse finally walked into the waiting area with a wheelchair in hand and called Lorelai's name, ready to take her to a room. Once Lorelai was settled, the nurse began to exit, "Ok, the doctor should be in to check on you soon," she said as she went to close the door.

"Wait!" Lorelai stopped her before she could leave, "When are you gonna hook me up with the good stuff?" she asked.

"What?" the nurse responded confused.

"You know the drugs, epidural," Lorelai explained the obvious, "Don't think I'm doing this without a high," she told the nurse with a short laugh, but the look in her eyes was serious.

The nurse looked back apologetically, "I'm afraid it's too late for an epidural, it wouldn't kick in in time. I'm sorry."

If looks could kill, Lorelai's would have, "You have got to be kidding me," she moaned, her voice filled with frustration.

"Don't worry, people choose to do it this way all the time. I'm sure you'll be fine," the nurse replied with a sweet smile as she shut the door, which Lorelai immediately chucked the tissue box sitting on the bedside table at.

"Should I go ask for some ice chips for when she comes back?" Rory asked, knowing what her mom found ice chips most useful for.

This elicited a small smile from Lorelai who was still glaring at the door, "Definitely," she said deviously.

A few minutes later, Rory rushed back into the room with an ice bucket in one hand and her phone pressed to her ear with the other, "Yeah, she's fine but it's going really fast, so I don't think it'll be much longer," she was saying into the phone, "I'm back now so I'll give you to her," Rory smiled as she handed the phone to Lorelai, "It's Luke," she said happily.

Before Lorelai could get a word in, Luke was already rambling, "Hey, Lorelai, are you ok?" he asked in concern, clearly flustered, but before she could respond he continued, "Aaahh of course not. I'm an idiot. I just forgot about the damn phone. It's always useless, just pestering me about nothing and then the one time…" he went on in frustration.

Lorelai eventually managed to cut him off, "Hey Luke, it's ok. I'm ok, Rory's here with me. It's all going to be fine," she reassured him, touched by his clear concern.

Luke shook his head at himself, "I should be the one calming you down. I'm an idiot," he repeated, still frustrated with himself, and stressed as he tried to focus on driving as quickly but safely as possible.

Lorelai laughed, "Only because you refuse to admit that cellphones are a wonderful asset to the world and are instead deadest in your old man ways," she joked, "Maybe this is just what you needed to realize sometimes things need to change, and cell phones should really be allowed…" she continued more seriously trying to leverage this opportunity to her advantage.

"No," Luke cut her off sternly, seeing exactly what she was doing, "Only you would use this as a way to get your phone in the diner."

"Luuuke," Lorelai whined, "You're really going to deny the woman going through immense pain to birth your children her only wish?" she asked in a pouty voice.

"Yes," Luke deadpanned, now slightly calmer after hearing Lorelai act like her usual difficult self. As he entered the highway, he added, "Give me twenty-five more minutes tops," figuring he could cutdown the usual thirty-minute drive by five minutes.

"Tell that to your children," Lorelai shot back, "I don't have as much control of the situation as you may think."

Luke let out a small smile even though he could feel his whole body filled with tension, "Ok, call me if anything changes. I love you."

"Love you too, but I'll love you even more when you're here and I can take out all my pain on the one who caused it. Rory's great, but it isn't her fault, so I have to hold back," Lorelai replied teasingly.

"Well now I'm really rushing to get there," Luke responded sarcastically.

"I know you are," Lorelai replied overly sweetly, "Bye." She hung up the phone as she felt another wave of pain begin to hit her, "Rory, distract me," she said closing her eyes and gritting her teeth as she clutched Rory's already very bruised hand.

"Ummm…" Rory tried to think of what to say, "Ok, why don't you explain to me why you think it's my fault that your water broke. It was totally the Oompa Loompas!" she said argumentatively, recalling what her mom had said in voicemail to Luke in the car earlier, and figuring a debate would distract Lorelai.

"No!" Lorelai replied emphatically through her grimace, "Your jokes made me laugh."

Rory shook her head, "Nuh uh, it was when the Oompa Loompas came on the screen and seeing your dream husband was just too exciting," Rory shot back, attempting to keep a straight face.

Lorelai glared, "I think I know, it was my water that broke," she said defiantly.

"Oh, I do think you know," Rory replied agreeably, "You just don't want to admit it," she laughed.

Before Lorelai could reply, the doctor walked into the room, "Hi Lorelai, seems like you're already quite far along. Mind if I do a quick check in?" he asked. Lorelai just nodded as she became more aware of her pain again and realized it was not dissipating.

The doctor finished the exam and looked at Lorelai, "Well, you're already at 8 centimeters so definitely time for the delivery room. I didn't realize just how fast things were moving, we really could have moved you in there probably fifteen minutes ago. That's why the contractions feel more constant," he explained.

"But my husband still isn't here," Lorelai replied weakly even though she knew it didn't change anything. She remembered this part vividly and, as bad as the whole process was, this was the worst part.

"I'm afraid that doesn't stop the process from moving forward," the doctor responded matter of factly. He then turned to Rory, "Are you coming in?" he asked, "I'll tell the nurse to bring some scrubs."

"Yes," Rory responded without hesitation.

Lorelai attempted to turn towards Rory as best she could, "Rory, hon, you don't have to. I'll be fine, really," she said gently, "I know how you feel about childbirth," she added with a small smile.

"No, I'm coming," Rory replied forcefully, "I'm not letting you do this alone again," she added softly.

Lorelai smiled affectionately at her daughter, touched by her concern, "If you're sure," she said, still not wanting Rory to feel pressured, but there was a clear look of relief on her face.

"Positive," Rory said confidently, "Just don't be offended if I'm staring at the wall for most of it," she added with a small smile.

"Please, that's the least of my concerns," Lorelai replied dismissively, surprised by the amount her anxiety had decreased knowing Rory would be with her.

Once in the delivery room, the screaming and swearing increased dramatically, "Ooohhhh, this is so much worse without the drugs than I imagined," Lorelai moaned in a short break between contractions.

"You're doing great, Mom," Rory said supportively and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder with her free hand.

Just then, the door burst open, and Luke rushed in, "Luke!" Lorelai cried out in relief as she reached towards him.

He walked over and planted a quick kiss on her forehead, "Everything still going ok? I swear I hit every damn red light and the parking here… but I'm just glad I made it," he said, clearly still flustered but relieved to be there.

Lorelai smiled, "Me too. I…aaaaahhhh!" she began to respond but was cutoff as another contraction hit and she clenched both Luke and Rory's hands.

"Ow!" Luke exclaimed, not expecting the death grip. Both Lorelai and Rory shot him a glare and Rory held up her bright red, bruised, and already starting to swell hand. "Sorry, just wasn't prepared," Luke replied raising his arms in surrender.

Only twenty-four minutes later, Valerie Sarah Gilmore Danes was born at 3:41pm June 4th, 2008, followed only one minute later by her brother, Andy William Gilmore Danes. The first names were chosen because they each meant 'strong' in some way, Valerie meaning 'strength' and Andy meaning 'warrior'. Being strong was something both Luke and Lorelai had realized was essential through their experiences in life. They had also been some of the few names they could both agree on. The middle names were after Luke's parents so even though their grandchildren could never meet them, they could have some connection.

Luke held Valerie in his arms and looked over at Lorelai who was holding Andy, "They're perfect," he said softly.

"They are," Lorelai replied looking adoringly into her son's eyes, "The first perfect babies since Rory," she added, smiling fondly at Rory as she experienced the same feelings she had twenty-three years ago.

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Hope you enjoyed the flashback! Bet you can't guess what the flashforward will be…