AN: Thank you for the revews.

"Ok, I have to say this is awesome." Rory announced, smoothly changing lanes as she sat in the driver's seat of Tristan's Porsche a few weeks later. "I love this car! I want it, can I have it?" she asked, looking over at him as Jess laughed from the back seat.

"Uh, let me think about that for half a second," Tristan replied sarcastically. "I think my parents may just notice if I come home without my very expensive car."

"She could probably take it, whether you hand it over willingly or not." Jess informed his friend. Rory just laughed at the idea as Tristan contemplated the likely hood that she would actually steal his car.

"Well, what about a trade?" Rory proposed.

"Everything you own in exchange for this car?" Jess suggested.

"Mom wants to cook for you again." she explained. "How's Thursday?"

"You think I would give up my mode of transport for another of Lorelai's meals?"

"She's gotten pretty good lately."

"We'll talk."

"Are you serious?" Jess asked, stunned.

"She's right, Lorelai has improved. And I'd rather not have to deal with the police."

"But this is a Porsche!" he added. "And also, you have never once let me drive."

"You didn't ask and Rory did. But if it'll make you feel better you can drive to school tomorrow."

"Much better." Jess grumbled in his seat.

"I really, really love this car!" Rory announced again as she pulled over.

"Rory, I wonder if we might talk for a moment, just the two of us." Richard asked, handing his granddaughter a drink that Friday night. He had already explained that his wife was busy at a cotillion preparation.

"Sure, Grandpa, what's up?" Rory replied glancing at the doorway, her mother was just making her way out of the room, having excused herself to use the restroom.

"Do you recall our discussion about Jess' visit to Harvard?"

"Yep, he loved it. He and his dad snuck into a dorm to see what they were like, he even blended into a lecture. He's still one hundred per cent set on going there."

"Well that's very nice for him. But actually I wanted to talk about you."

"Okay..."

"Have you given any thought at all to what you might want to do once you're finished at Chilton?"

"Not really. The last couple of year's school hasn't been that big of a priority for me, but I'm enjoying it more now. It wasn't really until he said he was going there for the weekend that I even really thought about college at all,"

"But once you did think about it, what did you think?"

"Um, well... I guess it would be nice but, I still have no idea how I want my life to work out, and I couldn't possibly waste the kind of money it would take to get into a good college while I floated around taking random classes, trying to decide what I want to be."

"What if you were to take classes at a community college first? That's a rather inexpensive way to go."

"I suppose I could do that, maybe. But I'm still not completely certain that college is for me."

"You'll think about it though?"

"Yeah, I'll think about it." Rory nodded. "It would be kind of cool to head off to Harvard without having to stuff myself inside a suitcase," Rory mused, thinking back to a conversation she'd had with Jess a while back. "I'll think about it." She repeated as Lorelai came back into the room.

"Think about what?"

"Ah, what she would like for dessert next week." Richard explained.

"Aw, no fair. How come I don't get to pick?"

"You can come up with something for the week after if you'd like."

"Ok, that's better." Lorelai grinned as her purse began to make noise. "Oh my God!" she breathed, opening it up to look inside.

"What?" Rory asked.

"Why is your purse playing Scott Joplin?"

"Oh my God!"

"Is it Sookie?" Rory guessed as Lorelai stared at the pager she'd been given a while back.

"Is what Sookie?"

"Oh! We've gotta go! I'm so sorry Dad, but, Sookie's gone into labour, and we have to go. Now! Rory grab your coat."

"You're going to the hospital with her?"

"Well, no, not exactly." Lorelai replied, stuffing her pager back into her purse and standing up, looking around the room a little flustered.

"Then, I don't understand."

"We're going to her house to be there when she has the baby. They're doing it at home, with a midwife and everything. It's all sorted out. Are you ready?" she asked, turning to Rory who handed over her coat.

"No."

"Why not? We've gotta go, it's happening now!"

"I can't go." Rory explained. "I like Sookie and Jackson, and I'm very happy for them, but I cannot be there when there's a baby coming out of her."

"You're not coming?"

"I'm sorry. But you go. I'll work out a way to get back to town later,"

"Nonsense, Rory you can stay here."

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked, pulling her coat on as she made her way towards the front door.

"Of course, her room is all set up, it's fine, as long as it's alright with you?" he added to Rory

"Yeah, sounds good to me." Rory replied. "Now go, go, and wish her luck for me."

"Ok, I will, I'll keep you updated."

Once Lorelai was gone and the excitement of the moment had died down, Rory turned to her grandfather again. "Why did we just lie to Mom?"

"I wouldn't say that we lied, exactly."

"Well, she asked what we were talking about, and you said dessert. I don't remember that coming up in our conversation at all."

"Until you've actually spent some time seriously considering your future options, I don't really see the point in getting your mother's hopes up, so I told a little white lie."

"What about you? Your hopes are up, aren't they?"

"Somewhat. But I raised this topic of conversation with you, so that's ok. I'll be fine with whatever you decide as long as you've thought long and hard about it."

"Even if I ultimately decide that I'm destined to work in a grocery store for the rest of my life?"

"If you were running the store, I don't see-"

"Nope. That position has already been filled. I'm just one of the masses, working a register."

"If that's what made you happy I wouldn't stand in your way." He replied slowly.

"Well good."

"You haven't decided that already, have you?"

"No, I haven't decided anything."

"That's just fine then." Richard nodded before looking over at the doorway. "Yes, Diane? Is anything the matter?" he asked the maid who was hovering there. She silently pointed off towards the dining room. "You'll have to speak up."

"Uh, Grandpa, I don't think she can." Rory pointed out, noticing how terrified the woman looked.

"Should we take this as an indication that dinner is ready?" after a moment Diane disappeared from the room and Richard shook his head. "Well, I suppose that means that we can eat. Shall we?"

"Let's shall." Rory agreed and they stood up, both heading to the next room.

Later that night, Rory groped around in the darkness, trying to find her phone before the ringing attracted attention from outside. "Hello?"

"Rory, its Mom. Did I wake you?" she glanced over at the clock; it was close to midnight.

"It's ok. I was trying to stay awake for your call. How was it?"

"Amazing, I actually can't believe I did that once. I had a very different view from my position tonight though." Lorelai added.

"How are Sookie and the baby?" Rory asked through a yawn.

"Both resting now, Jackson's standing guard over them. It's adorable. How was dinner?"

"Good. Quiet, but nice."

"Aww, that's good."

"Did Luke freak out?"

"Oh no, he's an old pro at this. Liz on the other hand..."

"She's done the whole birthing thing before. What was her problem?"

"Well, it only just occurred to her that she'd be right back there not too long from now." Rory laughed quietly getting comfy again. "I'll let you get back to sleep. You sound exhausted." Lorelai pointed out.

"I'm fine. So, what did she have? Boy or girl?"

"Boy. I'll tell you all about it in the morning alright? I'll pick you up after breakfast and we can go see them."

"Ok." Rory agreed, stifling another yawn. "Bye Mom."

"Bye Hon."

"I don't want to alarm you," Jess began, on the phone to Rory the next morning. She was just about ready to go home. "But I stopped by your apartment this morning to see if you wanted to walk over and see the baby but nobody was there. It was kind of early too."

"So?" Rory asked, pushing her feet into her shoes, and glancing around the room one last time to make sure she'd put everything back the way she'd found it.

"So, I don't think your mom slept there last night."

"Well where else would she have slept? Do you think she stayed at Sookie's?"

"I would have thought that, but when I went back home Mom said they all left at the same time."

"So, what you're saying is..."

"My next stop was the diner, and she was there."

"Ok, I've gotta go, can you meet me at Sookie's?"

"Sure. Are you-"

"She's downstairs now, so I've got a few questions I need to ask her."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you in a little bit."

"Yeah," Rory hung up and headed out the door. A few minutes later after saying goodbye to her grandparents, the two of them sat in the car, headed back to Stars Hollow.

"So, do you want the gory details now or after you've seen Davey for the first time?" Lorelai enquired once they were on the road.

"Well I'm not really sure."

"Let me just start you off with this – extra buckets."

"That's great, really. Nice and graphic. I do have a question actually."

"Shoot,"

"Did you stay at Sookie's last night, taking shifts with Jackson, watching the baby?"

"No. Why would you ask that?"

"Because I know you weren't home and since you didn't come back to Grandma's..."

"How do you know I-"

"Jess stopped by and nobody answered. If you weren't at Sookie's then I can't work out where you could have been. Did you decide to go help out for the inn's graveyard shift or something?"

"I was at Luke's alright!" Lorelai answered, realising she wasn't going to ge away with keeping the information to herself. "I was really happy and excited and alert after Davey was born and since Sookie needed to rest and Liz was a bit of a mess, Luke was the only one able to stay up with me. We went back to his place and sat up talking for hours."

"Talking? That's all?"

"That's all. We talked about the night Jess was born, the early morning arrival you made and the many hours of delivery it took to get you both here. We hypothesised a little about what it's going to be like when Liz has this next baby."

"And then you fell asleep on separate pieces of furniture way across the room from each other?"

"Then we fell asleep together on the couch." Lorelai corrected. "Much like you and Jess did a few months back."

"Ok, fine. I guess I can accept that. As long as you promise me you didn't leave in the morning without a word after sleeping with him, breaking his heart and ensuring that we have to leave town after a quick baby viewing?"

"I promise I didn't, so we can view the baby for as long as you like."

"Good, coz I told Jess to us here," Rory explained as they came to a stop outside Sookie's house. "And that would be kind of uncomfortable if Luke was currently crying into the pancake batter."

"I can assure you if he is, I am not the cause." Lorelai returned.

"Wow for a new newborn that kid has quite a set of lungs on him." Rory observed as they made their way up to the front porch.

"Oh yeah, I probably should have told you about Bruce."

"I thought they named him Davey."

"They did. Bruce is the midwife slash lactation specialist. And probably the cause of Davey's tears, she's a little scary."

"She-"

"Just wait until you get inside. All will be clear in moments."

"Can I try?" Jess was asking Jackson as he hovered by the man's side, holding out his arms.

"I guess so. Just be really, really careful, and support-"

"Support the head, I know. I got it." Jess took the baby into his arms and every one stayed perfectly still, watching as he calmed Davey down and the baby's cries got quieter and then stopped.

"Wow, looks like we have a baby-whisperer in our ranks." Lorelai observed once she was sure the silence was genuine.

"How did you do that?" Sookie asked from her position on the couch.

"I dunno, I just did that jiggling thing Jackson was doing and... Rory you wanna hold him?" he asked, noticing his girlfriend, frozen by the door.

"Oh no! Not a chance."

"It's ok sweetie, if he starts crying again just give him back to Jess."

"No. I don't go anywhere near babies, especially not ones this new. No, its better if I keep my distance, at least until his soft spot is gone."

"Works for me," Jackson flopped down onto the couch next his wife. "But Jess you are never, ever leaving."

"You'll have to take that one up with Mom and the school board, I think." Jess replied quietly as he handed the baby over to Lorelai.

"Oh, well hello there widdle Davey. You are just too cute. You've got such a widdle nose, ohh, look at that. Look at how adorable you are." Jackson got up from his seat and Lorelai came to sit beside Sookie and the two of them cooed down at the baby for a while as Jess moved over towards Rory.

"So, what did she say?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her.

"They fell asleep. They spent a while reminiscing about us at that age and just fell asleep."

"You believe her?"

"Well, I guess. I mean, it all depends on how Luke is. Did he seem normal to you?"

"Yeah, mostly. Although, I think it was the baby that had him acting just a little off. For the most part he was still being Luke-like though."

"Did someone in here talk baby talk to Davey?" a large woman asked as she came into the room.

"Yikes." Rory whispered, staring at the newcomer she assumed to be Bruce. Everyone stopped what they were doing and all eyes flew to Lorelai.

"Traitors." She muttered, shifting the baby in her arms. "Yes, it was me. Why? Is that bad?"

"Every second Davey's brain is hard-wiring for life. Baby talk can retard his language-acquisition rate. Is that what you want?"

"Absolutely not. I want Davey's brain fully traded," Lorelai replied.

"In five minutes we'll feed." The woman informed Sookie before walking out of the room.

"And on that note, I think it's time I got out of here." Jess announced to the group.

"Ditto," Rory agreed. "Congratulations you guys. Let me know when that destruct button's gone and I'll come spend some time with the kid." The two teens made their way outside and began walking along the street. "So, that was Bruce right?"

"Uh, yeah. We were introduced earlier. She has a very firm handshake."

"Ohh, glad I missed that one. Now I understand why Davey was wailing so much."

"She's a little scary, yeah."

"How are you so ok with babies?" Rory asked, looking at him curiously.

"I just kind of figure I have to be, since there's going to be one at our house soon. They really freak you out?"

"Well, yeah. They're terrifying."

"They're just little people that cry a lot."

"Yeah, they cry and scream and poop and you can break them very easily. They depend on you for every little thing. What about that isn't scary?"

"I guess I hadn't thought about that."

"But at least we know that you'll be fine when you're called on for baby sitting."

"I forgot that too." He replied. "So, basically Tristan's theory was correct."

"The one about diaper duty lasting til college?"

"Yeah, until that time, I'll either be at school, working in the diner, or apparently taking care of the newest editions to Stars Hollow's population."

"If Mom was anything to go by you'll have someone to share that last one with."

"She did look very at ease with him, didn't she?"

"Don't!"

"Don't what?"

"Don't start with that idea that she'll be the next one to pop out a kid. I don't want to hear it again. Especially not after breakfast with my Grandmother,"

"Was it that bad?"

"No, not really, just, it's a little difficult to take on my grandparents alone."

"Well, hopefully you won't have to do that next week."

"Or anytime again in the foreseeable future," Rory replied, thinking over her conversation with her grandfather the night before.