A/N: Thank you for your patience with me.

Memories of long ago

"Rory! He took to the baby from me!" Lorelai whined, pointing at her son in law when Rory walked out of the small bathroom with the doctor's help.

"I had to, she wouldn't stop the baby talk. It was either that or killing her." Jess tried to defend himself.

"Do you think you could get security to cart them both away?"

"It can be arranged." Laura winked. "Now come on, back in bed." She urged Rory who complied.

"That was the best shower of my life." She mused out loud, tugging at her clean shirt.

"How about that time when you were 12 and Kirk decided to dig a moat around his house and hit the water main and the town didn't have water for three days? Because that was pretty horrendous." Lorelai said.

"Close, but this still wins."

"Do I even want to know who this Kirk is?" Laura asked Jess and he shook his head.

"You don't. Trust me."

"Jess, can I have the baby?" Rory asked, extending her arms towards him but Laura stepped in before he could reply.

"Actually, do you mind if I take her for a couple of minutes? I just want to weigh her and then I can go home and you don't have to let go of her again until you want to. I promise I'll be quick."

"Yeah, sure." Rory nodded, watching from her hospital bed as her husband handed Laura the newborn.

"Seven pounds, fifteen ounces." Laura announced, looking at the squirming baby on the scales. "Not bad, but not close to the record."

"Yeah, I don't think I want to apologize for that one."

"What is your record?" Lorelai asked.

"Eleven six." She said. "Some other doctor in the hospital delivered a twelve pounder last month."

"Holy hell." Lorelai cringed. "That's a whole lot of newborn clothes wasted."

"Straight into three-six months stuff. The dad had to rush home and bring more that would actually fit." She kept talking, not stopping her task either. "And twenty one inches. You're a tall one, aren't you?" She asked the baby, tickling her naked legs. "Speaking of clothes, do you have any you want me to put on her or should I use the hospital stuff?"

"We have some." Rory answered, looking at Jess as she prepared to ask him to get some but seeing he was already rummaging through the bag. "Top pocket."

"You repacked this, didn't you?" He smirked and Rory smiled back.

"It made more sense this way."

"Clearly." He sighed, trying to sound annoyed. "This one?" He held up a onesie and Rory nodded. "Here." Jess handed it to the doctor.

"Do you want to do it?

"I…" He hesitated before nodding. "Might as well."

"I'll supervise." Laura said, flashing Rory a smile before turning her attention back to Jess who was already halfway through putting a diaper on the baby. "Hey, not bad."

"It's actually easier when they're not trying to run away."

"Yeah, don't get used to it. Does she have a name yet?" She asked Rory, still keeping an eye on Jess.

"Cate."

"I like it. Wait, didn't it used to be something else?... Something about Ava Gardner comes to mind…?"

"Brett. And we changed our minds."

"Oh, yeah, that happens. I think Cate suits her just fine though." Looking at Jess who was holding the clothed baby, she smiled. "Good job. You're a pro already." Laura was quiet for a couple of seconds, going through the list of things she had to do in her head and checking them off. "I think I'm done. Do you need anything else?"

"We're good."

"Great. Awesome even. I'm about ready to collapse, to be honest." She laughed. "Have something to eat soon, ok?" She looked at Rory. "There's going to be a cart going around with sandwiches, but their breakfast food is pretty abysmal. Lunch is good though. You'd have a better chance sending someone to the coffee shop across the street, they make a mean omelet."

"How's their coffee?"

"Not bad." Laura told her. "Are we good?"

"We're good."

"And someone is going to come bring you some boring paperwork later. You don't have to do it today, but make sure it's filled in before you leave the hospital."

"I will."

"In that case, you all have fun, I'm going to bed. Press the big button of you need anything."

"Thank you so much." Rory smiled.

"Again with that?" The doctor answered, laughing. "Take care." She added before they all said their goodbyes.

"Can I have Cate back now?" Rory asked her husband and he nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her, handing her the newborn. "Hi, sweetheart. I missed you." She said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "And I know your dad is going to think I'm silly because I was only gone for a few minutes, but I did."

"Not silly." Jess smiled, placing a kiss on her temple.

"You've gone soft." Lorelai teased him, wiping the corner of her eye at the same time.

"You're one to speak." He countered.

"If you're done arguing, can one of you come bring Luke in here? He's been out there the whole night, it can't be that fun."

"Don't worry, mom called very often to keep him busy."

"He must be so happy." Rory deadpanned.

Standing up from her seat, Lorelai opened the door and waved her husband inside, putting a hand on his arm as soon as he was in the room. "Look! Isn't she gorgeous?"

"Come meet your granddaughter, Luke." Rory smiled at him, holding up the baby as she squeezed Jess's hand with her free hand. "Or grandniece, whatever you want her to be. We just figured since, you know, you've been there for both of us more than our dads were and you technically are her grandfather…" She let the sentence hang for a second, clearing her throat again. "I'm rambling. Luke, meet Cate. Cate, this is Luke."

"She's beautiful." Luke smiled, running his hand slowly over the baby's head. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Rory smiled back. "I think she looks like Jess."

"She does. But she's quiet. He didn't stop crying for the first two days though."

"Were you there?" Jess asked, looking up at his uncle.

"Oh, I was. Your grandpa too. And Jimmy." He added after a short pause.

"Did anyone punch anyone else?" Jess smirked. "Because it sounds like the kind that would definitely happen."

"No punching." Luke shook his head, still smiling. "But you did almost make it out of the hospital without a name."

"Is that why I lack a middle name?"

"Liz and Jimmy could barely agree on one, let alone two."

"I suppose they could have done worse." Jess said, trying not to laugh. "No punching and nothing that screams 'my parents were on drugs'. I'm almost proud." He joked, his hand holding his daughter's. "That's enough reminiscing for now, I'm going to go to the coffee shop and see about getting you some food." He kissed Rory's cheek quickly. "I don't want to think what will happen if you're hungry for much longer."

"I can go." Luke offered. "Better yet, I can go to your place and make breakfast there and bring it over."

"Luke, you don't have to." Rory tried to argue, knowing she'd lost the fight.

"I want to. It'll give me something to do." He told her, one hand on the doorknob already.

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. I can get out of the hospital for a while too."

"I'm so sorry, you've been here all night and you hate hospi…"

"Couldn't miss my granddaughter being born, now could I?" He smiled at the young couple before waving. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He said as he left the room.

Catching up to him in the corridor a few seconds later, Jess held out his hand, a key in it.

"You'll need this."

"Yeah, I will." Taking the key from him, Luke put it in his pocket. "Congratulations, Jess. You're going to be a great dad." He gave his nephew a quick hug, patting his back with his right hand. "You really are."

"Thanks."

"I won't be long." He told him, turning to leave again.

"Hey, Luke?" Jess called out to the man, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah?"

"Did you have to drag Jimmy to the hospital?"

"No." He told him, thinking back of the night.

"I'm gonna kill him, I swear!" Liz moaned, grasping Luke's hand. "He's probably at some bar right now getting drunk while I'm having his kid and I swear, when I find him, and I will, I am going to rip his b…aaargh!" She yelled, squeezing tighter. "You're here, dad's here, but that deadbeat good for nothing jerk is not here to see this!" She continued ranting as the nurse wheeled her through the hallway.

"Don't worry, Lizzie, he'll show." Luke tried to pacify her. "He's probably on his way right now."

"He's at O'Malley's getting drunk, that's where he is, the bastard!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but this is as far as you can go." The nurse told him, stopping the stretcher.

"It's gonna be fine." He told his sister, giving her hand one more squeeze before she got taken behind the doors. Taking a deep breath, he looked at them until he could no longer see her through the small window. Returning to the main hallway, he found his father in the chair where they'd left him, filling in paperwork.

"I'm going out for a while."

"Luke, I don't think that's…"

"He has to be here." He slashed the air with his hand, pointing at the corridor he'd just come from. "I'm not going to let Liz have a baby all by herself. So if I have to go out and drag him in here, I will. Because both she and that baby deserve more."

"Don't get into any trouble." The older man advised him before watching him storm out of the hospital.

Climbing the steps to Liz's apartment two-three at the time, Luke could not himself from thinking of how much harm he wanted to do to his sister's husband, in the desperate hope that if he imagined it enough times, he'd get it out of his system without any punches actually being thrown. Turning the corner to the second floor – he had to try to find her a better place to live, fifth floor and no elevator wasn't going to work with a small baby, he was almost knocked down by another man rushing in the opposite direction. Putting a hand on the railing, he barely held himself up, the other guy equally confused by the unexpected stop.

"Jimmy?" He realized, squinting to see better in the moonlight peeking through a dirty window. "Where the hell have you been, you…!" He stopped himself in time, taking a few menacing steps towards him.

"Look, I just got home and saw the note. I was coming."

"Move!" He grabbed his sleeve and pulled him slightly towards the stairs, trying to ignore the whiff of cheap beer. "I swear, if you miss this…" He tried to control himself before he nudged him again as the other man turned around.

"What's your problem, man? I said I was going!"

"Go faster!"

"Mom just called to say they're at the hospital." Lorelai told her daughter.

"Does she know we don't need an update on their whereabouts every five seconds?"

"Apparently not." She shrugged. Before she could say anything else, there was a hurried knock on the door, followed by a muffled "Lorelai! Open the door!" from Emily.

"Time to face the music." Lorelai whispered to her daughter. "Hold Cate up, they'll be distracted."

"Don't talk about my daughter like she's hyena food."

"Might as well be." She whispered again before opening the door. "Mom! Dad! Hi! Come meet the baby! Come, come!" She whisked them inside, trying to direct them towards the bed with her waving hands. "Isn't she adorable?"

"Oh, Rory…" Emily let out without thinking, a couple of tears shining in her eyes. "She's so precious."

"And …distracted!" Lorelai mouthed behind her parents' backs.

"Congratulations." The woman looked from Rory to Jess, still beaming happily.

"She's beautiful. Congratulations." Richard said, holding back tears as well.

"Here, hold her." Rory suggested, lifting her arms towards her grandmother. "I'm just about ready to let go of her again." As soon as her hands were free again, she took Jess's in hers.

"Thank you." Emily smiled, taking the newborn into her arms. "She has your eyes." She told her granddaughter.

"Does she have a middle name yet?"

"Yes. And a new first name." Rory announced, watching her grandparents as they cradled the baby. "Catherine Lorelai Mariano."

"That's a good name." Richard smiled.

"We couldn't really ruin the tradition, could we?"

Lifting the baby up in her arms, Emily kissed her forehead before handing her to Richard. "You should hold her too."

"Richard!" A young Emily called to her husband, extending her arms towards him. "We have a daughter!"

"The nurse told me, dear." He smiled, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on his wife's forehead.

"You reek of your cigars." She scrunched up her nose, trying her best to sound threatening.

"It's tradition." He sat down in the chair besides her bed, holding her hand. "And I only had one."

"Oh, Richard, have you seen her yet? The nurse wouldn't let me stand up."

"And you listened?" He asked, taken aback.

"You're right." Emily decided, determination taking over and pushing the rest of the conflicting emotions. "Help me up."

"Emily, I don't think…" He suddenly realized his mistake.

"I said help me up, Richard! I'm not going to lay here and wait for someone to tell me when I can and can't see my daughter!" She held up her arms again and he shook his head.

"No. But I am going to go find a nurse to bring her to you. How is that?"

"Richard Gilmore, you have exactly five minutes and if you're not back by the time they're up, I am going to march out of here without your help. Do you understand?" She asked after weighing the situation in her head.

"Yes, dear."

Four minutes and twenty eight seconds later, Richard pushed the door open with his hand, allowing a nurse in a crisp white dress pushing a bassinet to go first.

"Here she is, Emily." He smiled at his wife, taking her hand as the nurse left. "She is…"

"Perfect." She finished the sentence for him, her hand holding the baby's.

"Lor! Hey!" Chris called, walking up to Lorelai who was waiting for her coffee at the coffee cart.

"Hi!" She waved back, giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Want some?" She pointed at the cart and he shook his head.

"No thanks."

"Give me a second, I'll take you there. Mom and dad are on cooing duty."

"How's Rory?"

"Great. Wonderful. Amazing."

"And the baby?"

"The most beautiful baby girl I've seen since Rory was born." She took the cup the girl handed her before waving towards the elevator. "Come see!"

"Give me a minute, I'm going to go buy some flowers. I have a ton of stuff for them in my car but I figured I should take it slow."

"Chris, did you buy her a castle?"

"Not yet." He grinned, picking up the largest bouquet.

"No castles. Or ponies. Or anything else unless Rory and Jess agree."

"Oh, so you're saying you don't want to go in with me on a drum kit?"

"Now, now, let's not make any rash decisions."

Pressing the button to the elevator, Lorelai stood to the side, sipping her coffee while Chris held up the flowers. "Good enough?"

"I don't know, you could at least have five more delivered."

"Do you feel old?" He turned his head to look at her as the elevator made its way up. "Because I really seriously do."

"God yes." Lorelai nodded. "We're grandparents, Chris."

"Great, say it out loud."

"It's fine, you don't even have that much grey hair." She teased. "It's like only yesterday she was a baby."

"Stop!" Lorelai almost screamed as she saw Christopher in the hospital's corridor, leaning against a wall.

"Miss, I…" The nurse tried to say, stopping the wheelchair with Lorelai in it at the same time.

"It's ok, he's friend, he can take it from here." She grabbed Chris's sleeve, pulling him towards her. "Go have some coffee or something."

"Miss, I'm not supposed to…"

"I won't tell anyone if you don't." She tried to look as innocent as possible. "It's really close, you said so, and I promise I won't get out of the wheelchair…?"

"I don't know…"

"I'm sure you have something better than to wheel me around, don't you?" She suggested and the nurse threw her hands in the air, giving up.

"Fine. But stay in the chair!"

As soon as the nurse was out of sight, Lorelai extended her hands towards Christopher. "Help me up."

"But you just said…"

"Chris!" She waved them impatiently, glaring at him. Sighing, he helped her up and she made sure her robe was tied securely before starting to take small steps towards the nursery.

"I'm guessing she hasn't met your mother if she actually let you out of her sight."

"Hah! No way."

"Where are they?"

"Yelling at someone, I'd imagine." Lorelai shrugged. "How did you know? Did they…?"

"Called your house to see how you were doing. Maid told me." He replied, looking at her. "How was it?"

"Awful, but in a good way. It's all so weird." She put her arm through his to keep herself up. "Have you seen her?"

"Her?"

"Didn't you…?"

"No one told me."

"It's a girl, Christopher. We have a daughter." She told him with a sigh, looking at him. "I called her Rory. Well, Lorelai but there's already me and it would be weird and she looks like a Rory." She rambled as they came to stand in front of the window to the nursery. "There." She pointed at the baby in the front row, letting go of his hand. The next couple of minutes passed quietly as they both stared at the baby, trying to process their own feelings and thoughts.

"She's pretty." Christopher finally said.

"She's perfect."